


Glee goes camping

by ShadowsofGray



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/F, Friendship, Pezberry, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:46:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsofGray/pseuds/ShadowsofGray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillbury take the glee club camping on a filed trip to help them bond, but things go awry. They are met with the unexpected, and one of their own becomes victim to a random attack, opening the door for new relationships and reinforcing rocky friendships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rachel

"I can't believe we're doing this, why couldn't we be bonding in a hotel or something?" Santana complains, again, as all of the glee clubbers plus Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury exit the school bus.

"While I actually agree with you," I pipe up. "And would rather be somewhere warm and with electricity, too, Principal Figgins has us on low field trip budget due to the Cheerio's tanning trip to Cancun." I remind her with a roll of my eyes.

"No one asked you, Stubbles." She retorts rudely while pushing past me with her oversized black duffel bag. 

I frown, upset as always when she insults, slushies or disregards me.

Once at our somewhat idyllic destination, well away from the bus and into the woods near a frequented fishing pond, we start setting up the tents. The guys do most of the heavy work, and when they are done, seven tents have been erected. Two of the tents are Mr. Schue's and Ms. Pillsbury's and we’re going to have to share the others, but I have to wonder if anyone would willingly want to share the tent that my dad and daddy had bought for me. I doubt it.

"Okay, guys," Mr. Schuester claps his hands to get our attention. "Let’s build a fire over there." He points to a small clearing. "It's a safe distance from our tents, but not too far out. Finn and Puck, go find some firewood and make sure to steer clear of anything that looks like poison ivy or oak. Oh, and whatever you do, don't eat anything growing wild." Mr. Schue tells the guys and warns them. God forbid any of us get poison ivy or oak, though even if someone did, I wouldn't have to worry, no one would touch me anyway.

Half an hour later, all of the guys attempts at sparking a light for the fire have failed as us girls watch on in amusement, and then in frustration, as it is starting to get cold out now that the sunlight is fading. I roll my eyes and walk over to where the boys are continuing their futile attempts. "Move over, please. I for one have had enough of watching you so called _men_ try to light a fire. Watch and learn how it's supposed to be done."

"Yeah, let's watch a real man do it." Santana quips and snickers from behind me. 

I hear chuckles and a high five accompany her cruel words and I feel my expression of irritation harden.

I jerk the sticks out of Finn's hand, throwing them into the firewood, and instead grab a more suitable stick, a piece of small board that someone had found, and some dry kindling. A minute later, sparks ignite and the fire is lit. I blow on it gently, watching it grow before lowering the board carefully into the firewood. "And that is how it's supposed to be done." I look at the others and say proudly.

"Good job Rachel." Mr. Schue praises me with a warm smile before turning to speak to us as a whole. "Now, let's get everyone settled around the fire on chairs or logs. Anyone hungry?" He questions us even though he already knows the answer. 

We all answer with very loud affirmatives.

Everyone rushes for one of the folding chairs and I'm one of the unlucky five who gets to sit on a dirty log or rock. Santana had grabbed a chair for Brittany and scowled menacingly at Kurt, probably hoping that he'd give up his chair to her, but her intimidation failed because Kurt turned away to talk to Mercedes. I can’t help but think it endearing that Santana still did these nice things for her friend, even though the blonde dancer was now dating Artie. I still think it was wrong that we had to leave Artie behind because the budget campsite is not wheelchair friendly. He had been gracious, though, saying that he was supposed to go visit his grandparents anyway. 

I intend to write a formal letter of complaint to the school board regarding the unfair expenditure's of one Sue Sylvester.

They set up their seats in a big circle, and I watch on, gaze flicking over them, then to the pond up ahead. It is now dusk, and silent, except for the crackling fire. Sighing, I distractedly go to sit down on the flat rock that is behind me and end up landing in someone's lap. "Umph!" Oh, oh no. Hands grip my sides, keeping me steady at first, but then I am on the ground faster than I can stand, landing on my hands and knees with a grunt. I gape wide-eyed at the fire, to which I’m now much closer.

"Seat's taken, midget." Santana's voice sounds from behind me.

"Santana! That was uncalled for." Mr. Schue yells at her, as Brittany helps me up. 

"Are you ok, Rachel?"

I can’t help the tears that fill my eyes and spill over.

"Oh, Rachel. Are you hurt? Don't cry. I'll make it better. I have band aids with little duckies on them." Brittany says softly, pulling me into her, hugging me tightly.

I sniffle and hug back.

"You need to apologize, Santana." Ms. Pillsbury scolds her. 

"There was no need for you to push her like that. It was an honest mistake. She didn't realize that you'd taken that particular spot."

I pull away, wiping at my tears, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Sorry, Berry." Santana mumbles quietly.

I turn and look at her with hurt filled eyes. "No, you aren't."

"Okay, enough. Rachel, Santana, since you two seem to have a problem between you, I want you to sit together to try and talk it out." Mr. Schue tells us sternly, sounding disappointed.

"No. No way. I don't do talk, it's not my style and I said I was sorry." Santana argues quickly, making me want to cry again.

"Fine." He sighs out, giving up and sitting back down. "Just sit together and try and be civil."

_Yeah right, like that will happen._ I think as I hesitantly walk back to the rock, not looking at her.

"Whatever." She grumbles, moving over.

I sit down warily.

Finally, Mercedes brings over the goodies to make smores and everyone cheers excitedly. The treats are devoured readily, and after eating, Puck brings out his guitar. The next hour is spent taking turns to sing a favorite song, before finishing with a group song.

"That was great guys. Does anyone want to do anything else? Maybe tell ghost stories if you know any?" Mr Schue grins like a child as he asks, looking around at us.

Mike raises his hand. "I've got a story."

"Great, go ahead, we're listening."

Sometime during the lame, scary story, I hear noises in the distance, like twigs snapping, that make me startle.

"Did anyone hear that?" Sam asks as he looks over towards the woods, where my eyes are already searching the dark for monsters with hatchets.

"It's probably a critter. Don't panic yet, I'm only halfway through the story." Mike says, laughing, then continues on.

I'm still searching the perimeter of the woods with my eyes, but see or hear nothing unusual.

Once Mike is done with his 'tale of terror', most of us agree to call it a night.

Puck, Mike and Sam chose to stay by the fire longer, claiming that they're just not tired enough to turn in.

"All of you pair up, you are going to have to share the tents." Mr Schue announces the obvious.

"We three can use mine, it's big enough." Sam says, pointing to himself, Puck and mike.

The others nod in acceptance.

"Tina can share with me." Mercedes adds in, throwing an arm around her friend as they smile at each other.

"Finn, mine's a two person tent?" Kurt asks him, hopeful.

"Sure…" He agrees slowly.

"Guess that leaves us three." Santana says, looking at Quinn and Brittany.

I'm not surprised at all but it doesn't hurt any less that no one wants to share with me.

"I think one of you should share with Rachel. She'll be alone, and none of you girls should be alone out here." Mr Schuester points out.

His eyes land on Santana.

"No, not happening-"

"Yes, Santana." He interrupts Santana's refusal. "The only way to start mending the rift between you two is by spending time with each other."

"With all due respect, Mr. Schue, I don't think that that's a good idea. San hates me. You will be sentencing me to a night of torture. She pushed me down in front of the whole group, what do you think she'll do once we're alone?" The shortened version of her name slips out and I hope no one notices as I voice my possibly, very real fears.

"Berry, you're being overly dramatic as always. The worst I would do is slap some tape across your big mouth and tie you up." She rolls her eyes and chuckles.

I glare at her.

"Just go with it, Rachel. If she really bothers you then fetch me and I'll switch her out with someone else."

His words make my heart sink and my body fill with dread. "Very well, but if she so much as lays a hand on me, I won't hesitate to report her to the proper authorities once we get home. Goodnight fellow glee clubbers." I give in reluctantly and tempt a glance at Santana. She is staring off into the darkness, her arms crossed and jaw clenched.

I turn and walk towards my tent. I unzip it and climb in before I start preparing for sleep. I pull out my pj's, stripping down to change into them, but startle when a duffle bag lands beside me. I turn sharply when the zipper sounds on the tent. Santana's surprised eyes meet mine. "Turn around!" I yell at her, trying to cover my underwear clad body.

"Like you have anything I want to see." She scoffs out but complies anyway. She moves to the other side of the tent, her eyes cast away. "Why didn't you zip up the tent, Yoshi?" She asks, busying herself as I throw on my clothes.

"I don't know. I'm not used to sharing accommodation so it slipped my mind, I guess." I answer sheepishly, blushing.

"Yeah, well, thanks for blinding me. I'm scarred for life now." She replies, cutting me down yet again.

Tears prick my eyes, and I wonder if I am really that ugly? Apparently so if all the taunting is true. I lay out my sleeping bag and lie down without replying.

"I'm switching the lantern off." She announces as if she didn't just insult me.

I say nothing, tears streaming down my cheeks. Darkness fills the tent and she lies down.

All goes silent.


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel

I'm woken up by my bladder calling me. I sleepily reach under my pillow for my phone, checking the time. 1:42 Am. Great. It's late and I'm too creeped out by the darkened woods surrounding us to go by myself. I reluctantly turn over and gaze at Santana, using the glow from my cell phone. She's on her stomach, facing away from me. "San?" The nickname slips again as I try and wake her, but she doesn't budge. "Santana?" Hand touching her shoulder blade, I add light pressure.

I hope that she doesn't get angry.

"Hm?" She mumbles, shifting some at the interruption to her sleep.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I need to use the restroom, well the woods in this case. You know that that's the one thing I hate about this camping site, there aren't any toilets around here-"

"And..?"

"Um, I'd rather not go out there alone." I say, before lowering my voice a little in embarrassment. "Could you perhaps accompany me?"

"What's the matter, afraid some creature is gonna get you?" Santana chuckles as she turns over.

I look down and then away from her. "Never mind, I'll manage on my own." I sigh, as I grab the lantern and turn it on.

"No. I'll go, okay? If anything did happen, I would end up being blamed. Can't have that now can we?" She says, surprising me.

"Thank you. I appreciate it, Santana, and I am sorry to have bothered you." I grab for the toilet paper and unzip the tent.

She finds a suitable spot just a short distance from the campsite and points it out to me. 

I give an approving nod before she turns her back, and then go relieve the building pressure in my bladder.

When I'm done, we head back, but I stop when I hear hushed voices by the fire. "Wait." I hold my hand out but don't touch her. "I'm thirsty. I'm going to join them for a drink."

"You do that, Berry." She replies, taking the toilet paper and leaving me the lantern. "I'm gonna go gets my beauty sleep." She yawns and then takes off to our tent.

_Like she even needs beauty sleep._

I sigh as I walk over to where Puck and Sam are. _  
_

"Hey, my hot Jew Berry."

"Noah, Sam. Mind if I join you?" I greet them warmly and wait for their nod before sitting down.

"Sure." Noah says and then starts laughing. "I'm surprised S hasn't killed you yet."

I glare at his teasing. "You underestimate me, Noah. I managed to drug her, zip her up in her sleeping bag, and then used duct tape for good measure. I am now perfectly safe from Santana's attempts to end my life." I joke with the boys even though I am quite surprised myself that she hasn't taken our alone time to torture me.

I grab for Sam's steaming coffee mug, hoping that he won’t mind me taking a sip. I peer into it, curious as to the contents.

"Don't drink that." Sam startles me, making me turn wide eyes on him.

"Good one, Berry." Noah chuckles, not having noticed me picking up Sam's cup. "I guess she won't be bitching at us for the rest of the trip now. Oh yeah, don't drink that." Noah warns me off when he sees that I have the cup in my hands.

"Why? Is there alcohol in here?" I ask curiously, sniffing the liquid that looks like some sort of dark tea.

"Yeah, alcohol. It's really strong." Sam answers quickly, reaching for the cup.

"One taste won't hurt, right? I'm extremely thirsty." I shrug their warning off as nothing, and then bring the cup to my lips, tasting.

"Nasty, huh? Let me have it back." Sam asks me, still reaching for his drink.

"No, not nasty necessarily.. Earthy. Different. However, I don't taste any trace of alcohol." I raise my eyebrows in disbelief, ignoring his hand and opting to take another drink, and then another. The tea blend is actually pretty good. "Here you go, Sam. Thank you. I was really parched." I hand back his cup and smile at them.

"What have you two been talking about? Sports perhaps? Girls?" I decide to sit with them for a while and join in with their conversation.

"Damn, you drank over half." Sam frowns.

Noah glances over at Sam and they both start looking fidgety. "Uh, Sam and I were just talking about video games, but we were just about to head to our tent. You should do the same, Berry, get some much needed sleep."

"Could we stay out a little longer? It's just, Santana … I mean, she's most likely getting her beauty sleep as she had put it, not that she needs it, but I'll be on my own-"

"Whoa, okay, we'll stay out with you longer." Puck interrupts me before giving me a warning. "Listen, that shit you just drank, its strong okay?"

"Yeah, don’t be alarmed if you start feeling..drunk.." Sam agrees with him, and I suddenly feel slightly alarmed at their odd behavior. 

"I've had more alcohol than that before and not felt drunk, though. There couldn’t have been much in that mug." I reply, not wanting to believe something is off.

"Berry, trust me, it will hit you, so it might be a good idea if you went and lay down soon." Noah warns me again, sounding serious.

I huff and cross my arms, but accept that he is only keeping a protective eye out for his fellow Jew. "Well, okay. I would think that you know more on the topic of drinking than I do. I trust your judgment on the matter and I'll go lie down in just a little while. If that's alright?"

After sharing a silent conversation with Sam, they both acquiesce.

* * *

Half an hour later, Quinn

Startled awake by a loud noise, I sit up, eyes blinking and ears straining to hear the voices from outside.  


"Ow! Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"Nah. Hey, come check this out!"

"Dude wait, where did Rachel go?"

Sam and Puck's voices sound outside my tent. I frown. _What are they doing up so late? It's after 2:00am and what was that_ _about Rachel? Is she out there with them? Shit, now I have to know what's going on._ Making sure B is asleep, I grab the lantern and unzip the tent, exiting. I zip it back up as my eyes scan the area.

It's dark everywhere except for the lantern and the glow of embers at the fire. Voices make me turn around. They're coming from the woods behind my tent. I hesitantly make my way over there. _Crap, what am I doing? What if there is some maniac or wild animal out there? And I forgot my shoes!_

"I don't know dude, follow the Jew berries, they will lead us to her." Puck says and I can tell that they're close by.

I follow in confusion at his words, quickening my pace. "Ow, shit!" I holler as I step on something sharp.

"What was that? I keep hearing things. I think somebody is after us." Sam exclaims in a harsh whisper, sounding scared.

"I heard it, too. Let's bounce. Whoever's out there may have kidnapped our golden Jew Berry."

_What the hell is up with those two? They aren't making any sense and the way they keep referring to Rachel has me worried that they all might be drunk. Why was she even out here with them at this time of night? So help me God, if they got her drunk and then lost her I will kill them. Crap, they're gone and it's too late to go back for my shoes. I need to find Rachel and fast, and then tie up those immature assholes to a tree and let the wolves have at them._

* * *

Present, Riley

_Oh this is amusing and such great entertainment._

'Blondie is going the wrong way.' My pack mate, Devon, comments through our telepathic bond with a snicker, and I smirk. 

'Yes, and if she keeps going that way she's going to end up lost along with her two idiot friends.' I look over at my wolf friend. 'Dev, go find them and lead them back to their tents. They may be stupid, but we need to keep them safe.’ I turn my gaze to my other friend. 'Aris, Rachel is heading our way, keep her with you. If she strays, follow her. I'll go and get Barbie.' Our telepathy really comes in handy when we're in werewolf form. _  
_

"Oh, my! What big eyes you have. What big bodies you have. Wait, you're not going to eat me are you?" The Rachel girl stops in her tracks in front of us, squeaking in fear and wonder.

"I've never seen such a huge wolf ... wolves. You're so big; you're like six feet tall and a thousand pounds. Oh my god, you could ravage me. Wait, I mean, ravage might not be the right word... hmm... Anyway, I must be going. There are these caves over that way somewhere." We watch in amusement as she waves her hands about, trying to convey the direction of caves that aren't there. "I passed them earlier, though was wary of entering one, but now I must simply rest and seek shelter from this gruelling wind and cold air." She rambles on, going from scared to crazy in 2.5 seconds.

'She. Is. Adorable. And, obviously high. Damn those two stupid guys. Let's lie down so she won't be as fearful of us.' I tell Aris, already lying down in front of the tiny brunette.

'Definitely cute high. She's smiling at us. I think its working.' Aris agrees as she follow suit.

Rachel is indeed smiling at us both, Devon already having run off in search of the idiots. She kneels and Aris inches forward on her belly, sniffing the outstretched hand.

"So you aren't going to ravage me?"

_Ha, that's debatable._

Aris licks her hand in response. Rachel giggles and then proceeds to rub behind Aris' ears as if she were just a huge puppy dog.

While they bond, I sneak off to go find Barbie. I can hear multiple footsteps all around the woods and I run for the softest ones, the girl not having any shoe's on. It doesn't take long with my speed, hearing, and sense of smell. She's resting against a tree, looking a mixture of upset, worried, and pissed, and at a loss of what to do. Her head snaps in my direction as a twig snaps beneath my paw, wide eyes meeting mine.

"No. No no no. I was just joking about the wolves." She begins to panic and shuts her eyes tight. "This is not happening, you’re huge, I'm dreaming." She scrambles to her feet. "Ow! Okay, not dreaming. Shit, why the hell did I have to grow a heart and go after her? She's probably all safe in her tent by now while I'm stuck in the woods with a huge wolf about to eat me." She mumbles to herself, scared and frustrated.

Real tears form in her eyes as she looks around for a possible escape route, and then back at me like I'm about to attack her.

"Please go away. I'm not food. Please…" She begs softly, crying now.

My heart breaks. I hate when good people are afraid of me. We are not man eaters, but then in our wolf form, how is anyone to know?

I sit in front of her and she tenses more.

"No, what are you doing? Go away. Shoo … _please._ "

I ignore her polite pleas, which under normal circumstances would have me laughing, and instead I lie down even closer to her until my muzzle rests on her sock covered foot. I feel her freeze all movement. She barely even breathes. I lick over her foot, it twitches and she lets out a shuddery breath.

"Why won't you leave me alone? I'm not ready to die. Oh God, please don't hurt me. My mom... my friends... I'll never see them again. Santana, Brittany... Rachel. My mom will have a heart attack if I were to die like this, ripped apart. Why are you licking me? It tickles."

I sit and listen to her as she finally starts to relax a little.

I continue to lick her foot in what I hope is a comforting gesture, until we're interrupted by one of the two idiots lumbering towards us."Hey, Q!"

"Puck, thank God! Where's Sam? And where the hell is Rachel? Help me get this beast away." Q, relieved, relaxes slightly, until the other dumbass and Devon come into eyesight.

"Right here-oh, you found one, too?" Sam smiles widely and gives the Q girl a little wave. "We named ours Storm because she's a smokey grey color."

"It found me. They aren't pets Sam! It's a wild animal and could attack us at anytime." Q counters him angrily and fearful as she stares at me again.

"Calm down, Q." Sam steps forward and smiles goofily. "They aren't attacking. I think she likes you, she's licking all over your feet and legs. Come on, let's get going. We were following Storm back to safety, these woods are making noises and I think Puck's golden Jew Berry got kidnapped."

The guy with the Mohawk suddenly remembers Rachel and starts looking frantically around. "Yeah, that's right. The Jew Berry trail ran cold."

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You. Two!" Q growls at them and finally moves away from the tree. "Why is Rachel even lost and what the hell did you two drink?"

'She's pissed, it's kind of hot.' Devon snickers at me. 'Come on; let's meet back up with Aris before Blondie has a coronary.' She nods her head towards the right direction.

'I agree on both accounts.' I say and we nudge our companions for their attention. They stop talking and look at us as we turn and start walking.

"They want us to follow; maybe they know where Berry is." This Puck dude takes the hint and Sam follows behind him. I turn my head and look at Q.

"These things travel in packs, so help me God if we are lead into a trap. As soon as we find Rachel, I demand to know what the hell happened for her to be out here alone." She yells more, ire in her eyes, but hesitantly follows along.

Both boys ignore her angry rant, too distracted by their surroundings as we head toward Aris.

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Riley

The distinctive scent of arousal assaults my nose as we get closer. 'Uh oh, the girl is getting Aris worked up. What the hell are they doing?' Devon comments; snickering in my head as she notices the scent, too.

'I don't know, but they both smell good.' I say honestly.

"Rachel! Great. Another one." Q, seeing her friend and another of our kind, yells out worriedly.

"Golden Jew Berry must taste good." Puck says as his eyes widen at the sight of Rachel on her back, Aris hovering over her, licking her exposed stomach while Rachel is rubbing Aris' head in contentment.

'Aris, what are you doing?' Devon asks, padding over towards them.

Q carefully walks over. "Rachel, are you okay? Is it hurting you?"

"Am I dying?" Rachel looks up at Q, eyes wide.

"What? Why would you ask that? Of course not." Q helps Rachel up, perplexed.

"Well, you're an angel. Your halo is very bright and your wings are absolutely beautiful. Could you take me for a fly? It would be amazing!" Rachel tells her in awe. She sounds completely serious as she stares at the blonde girl.

Q looks at her like she's grown an extra head.

Suddenly, her face hardens and she turns to the two idiots. "What did you give her?"

"Hm? Give her what?" Puck mumbles distractedly as he fondles the long leaves of a nearby plant.

"PUCK! WHAT DID YOU THREE TAKE? Drugs, pot, what? Rachel is as high as you both are and I need to know what you gave her." Q seethes, enraged.

The girl, with her tussled locks, angry eyes, and bare feet, looks absolutely gorgeous pissed off.

"Ohh right. We just had a little cup of tea." He finally answers nonchalantly, stroking the over grown plant. "I found some delicious mushrooms nearby, and there's no need to yell, isn't that right, fern? Tell me, how do you get your skin so soft?"

"You immature asshole! Shrooms? Really? Just great." Q runs a hand through her wild hair, agitated.

"Angel? What's your name?" Rachel speaks up softly, stepping closer to Q, invading her personal space. "Your hair is really soft, can I have a hug? I'm quite fond of angels and it's terribly cold out."

"It's Quinn, Berry, from school? You know me." She sighs.

'I could watch them all night, but we need to get them back, its cold out.' Devon speaks to us, sounding reluctant to disturb the drama being played out in front of her.

Aris whines pitifully, obviously still aroused from her earlier scritching.

'You're right. Damn, look at them. Rachel is being very touchy feely. Hey, uh, anyone up for breaking in the hotel bed?'

I cut my eyes at Devon and give her a knowing look. It takes nothing at all for her to become horny, especially when it involves the wolf having so much fun with Rachel.

"Quinn Berry? My last name is Berry, too, Quinn! Hey, I know a Quinn, you actually look like her."

"Yeah. Listen, Rachel. We need to get back to our tents. It's late and really cold out. Let's go get warmed up, okay?" Quinn pulls back with another exasperated sigh.

"Okay, I'm cold, too and I spotted caves earlier. Let's seek shelter there; we can keep each other warm. Cloud?" She turns to Aris. "Do you know where they are? Could you lead us to them?"

'Cloud? That's cute. You _are_ pure white. I like it, now I want a name.' I laugh at Aris' new nickname,a little jealous that both she and Devon have aquired one from this crazy goup of friends.

'I like it, too. Maybe Quinn will name you?' She replies, nodding, then stands on all fours, heading in the direction of the 'caves.'

Quinn blows out a breath of air and grabs for Rachel's hand as they start to follow Aris, or Cloud as Rachel has renamed her. "This is too messed up. I'm never going camping again."

The rest of us fall in line, I make sure the guys stay in the middle. Puck has pulled out part of the plant and is carrying it with him. The short walk there is filled with silence, with the exception of Rachel tripping up occasionally from staring at Quinn the whole time.

"Look, Angel, the caves! There are so many. Which one should we enter?"

"Finally! I'm beat. Alright, listen up, Puck and Sam get in your own tent… cave... whatever. Lie down and go to sleep. Do not come out until morning, is that clear?" Ignoring Rachel, Quinn addresses the guys sternly, leaving no room for protest.

"Which one, Q? I'm going to take fern here to bed." Puck asks, looking around then points to the plant as he leers at it.

"Eww." She shakes her head at the idiot boy and points to the tent that he was supposed to be sharing with Sam. "That one, and be expecting a lecture from me tomorrow. Go to bed."

Quinn walks over to another tent and points her finger at it. "Rachel, this one is yours."

"Oh good! Let's go in, Quinn. Hey, that rhymed." Rachel smiles happily at the blonde before bending down to each of us to give us a hug and a quick kiss to the side of our muzzles. "Goodnight wolf friends. Thank you for your help, and I hope to see you all again." She looks up to Quinn and tilts her head. "Angel, name our wolf before we enter the cave."

"What?" Quinn splutters at the thought of naming a wild animal. "No, I'm not naming it!"

"Please?" Rachel pleads and touches Quinn's arm. "The others have one. It's your turn to name a wolf. She has a beautiful rich black coat, so choose a suitable name."

"This is ridiculous. Fine, I pick Shadow." She gives in with a sigh and an eye roll, looks at me and then names me without much thought.

"Shadow? I like it. Tell her goodnight." Rachel approves, smiling.

"Night, wolf." She waves absently at us as she shoos Rachel closer to her tent. "Now, will you please go in your 'cave' and go to sleep?"

"Yes, I'll do that now." Rachel gives in finally.

'Sweet. Let's get out of here.' Aris comments, ready to go. I laugh. She is still aroused.

'Lets. We'll come back tomorrow and check in on them.' Devon says and I agree as well. With one last look at the duo, we take off.

* * *

 

Quinn

I tiredly unzip the tent and nudge her into the opening.

"Oh! Santana has discovered the cave first and has fallen. Quinn, quickly, lower me down. I must tend to her at once!" High Rachel exclaims in panic, and I roll my eyes for what feels like the 50th time tonight.

"Keep your voice down, she's fine."

"Wazzat?" S mumbles groggily.

"She may be hurt, Angel. Help me down this instance!" Berry yells at me, sounding really worried.

"Okay, okay, keep quiet. Here," I pull apart the opening to the tent, playing to Rachel's hallucination. "Step in."

She kneels beside her, speaking surprisingly tenderly, brushing hair behind S' ear. "Santana, are you hurt? Can you hear me? Open your eyes." My heart sort of flip flops at the concern in Rachel's voice.

"Rach, stop. She's fine, she's sleeping."

"Berry, what're you doin'? I hears you fine." S groans and then turns her head the other way. I scoot further in, zipping the tent back up.

"You're okay, Right? You're not hurting anywhere?"

"What are you goin' on about? Why wouldn't I be okay? Stop that, you're freaking me out."

This is kind of amusing.

"I thought that you'd fallen." Rachel's speaks seriously as she starts to rub Santana's back in comfort. "This cave is so deep and the walls so high. It's a long drop and you're just lying here on the ground. I was worried."

"Okay, what the hell? Are you sleepwalking?" She turns her head back and looks at Rachel strangely. I want to laugh. As if sensing my presence, she looks over here, her brows furrowing.

"Q? God, you guys suck, playing me like that. Leave me alone. I was sleeping, damn it."

"I'm sorry, Santana. I didn't realize that you were in fact sleeping, but Quinn and I need shelter, too. It's safer if we stay together, we can keep each other warm. You are already quite warm, so I'm going to cover us up with this blanket I just found." Rachel rambles as she attempts to lie down against S with her blanket. "Angel, come lie down and rest with us."

"Seriously? Cut it out, this isn't funny. Get off me, Berry."

"Santana, let her. This isn't us messing with you. While everyone has been asleep, Puck, Sam, and Berry here drank a little magic tea. We've had quite the adventure, but now I'm seriously tired and cold." I finally let her in on what's going on.

"What? Tell me you're jokin?"

"I'm not. Those two assholes let her have shroom tea. I woke up hearing Puck and Sam outside my tent, went to investigate then ended up in the woods. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, right now I just want to sleep. So humor Rachel and let her relax how she needs to." I explain, conveying the seriousness of it all, hoping she will comply.

Rachel has scooted over some, leaving minimal space between them and is staring at her hands in fascination. Santana observes her with realization. "Shit's not cool, Q. What the hell were they thinking? She's stoned as fuck."

"They weren't thinking, obviously. They're so stupid and irresponsible. Will you keep an eye on her? I just want to go to sleep and Britt shouldn't be alone all night." I reply, frustrated at this whole thing.

"You're crazy. You can't leave me with her!" She hisses at me. "No, let's switch tents. I'll sleep with B." Shaking her head wildly, Santana sits up, preparing to grab her things and run.

"San, give me a break. Tonight has been intense, okay? I'll owe you." I plead with her, wanting to lie down in peace and quiet. It had been a very long night so far.

"Hell yeah you will, stoned people are unpredictable. Actually, Puck and Sam owe us both for this shit." She gives in reluctantly.

"Yeah, they do. Thanks, S. I'll see you in the morning." I thank her and shoot her a rueful smile before I unzip the tent again.

"Angel? Why are you leaving the cave?" Rachel suddenly pipes up as she sees me leaving. "Come lie down with us, it's cold out there."

I sigh heavily, hoping for an easy exit. "I'm going to go explore a different cave. I'm not sleepy yet, close your eyes and go to sleep, okay?" Santana snorts at my playing along and I roll my eyes at her.

"Oh, don't be long. Though I'm sure you can take care of yourself, do be careful. Caves are dangerous places." Rachel buys it, thankfully.

I smile and shake my head. "Sure. Night, Berry."

"Goodnight, Angel."

"Why does she keep calling you that?" Santana asks irritably just as I'm about to escape.

"Apparently, I'm an angel with a bright halo and beautiful wings." I can't help but smirk at my friend.

"Oh, yes! You certainly are, Angel!"

"An angel? Right. So, you're an angel... and I'm just, me? I'm surprised she doesn't see horns on my head." S mumbles disbelievingly, flopping onto her stomach with a huff. I frown my confusion at her.

"Easy, San. The cave floor is hard; I don't want you to get hurt. Why would you have horns? Certainly you aren't a demon."

"Berry, if you don't stop touching me, I'm going to tie you up. Now back the hell off!"

"S!" I hiss out at her angry threat, much like she hissed at me.

Rachel quickly moves to the other side of the tent and huddles into the corner as she stares over at Santana. "Maybe you are a demon after all. I'm very sorry for making you angry; I was only trying to soothe you. Please don't tie me up."

"Rachel," I huff. "She isn't a demon, just grouchy and tired. I promise she won't tie you up." I turn my angry gaze to the other girl, giving her a 'See what you've done?' glare, before lowering my head so that I can whisper in her ear. "Please be nice, you're scaring her, and I know from movies what could happen when someone on drugs gets freaked out. She could have a bad trip. She may see me as an angel, but she's being gentle with you, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, she could be calling us both out on how shitty we are to her. So apologize and let her lie back down and whatever you do, don't yell or scare her anymore."

"Yes, mother." She replies sarcastically. "Now get gone, go get your beauty sleep. Oh wait, you're an angel, you don't need it, what with your already radiating beauty and all."

I sigh and lean my head against hers, her hair smells good. "Don't be like that. I can't help how she or anyone else sees me. And, don't ever call me that again. Night, S." I whisper, swallowing the lump in my throat along with the words 'You are beautiful, too.' Then shoot up and out of the tent before she can reply.

* * *

 

Santana

_Whatever, this shit is cray._ "Berry, I'm sorry okay? Come lie back down, Yoshi." I apologize, looking over at her. She has her legs pulled up with her arms wrapped around them and her head down.

She looks up at me through long lashes. "Are you sure? I don't want to anger you further."

"Yes I'm sure. I can see you shaking, so get over here." I answer a little sympathetically, pulling back the cover for her. She moves quickly, sliding back beside me. I drop the cover over her.

"Thank you, non demon Santana. I'm super cold; however, I will attempt not to touch you. This blanket will have to do to keep us both warm. At least it's soft. It feels like a cloud." She thanks me, making me feel bad, damn her. I wish Q would have stayed but I don't like the idea of Britt being alone either. She's still my best friend, even if we aren't together anymore.

"Uh… I'm going to turn the lantern off, k?" I sit up and warn her, reaching for it.

At least we have an extra, cause this girl does not feel like running out in the cold to find the other one Rachel was suposed to keep on her.

"Mmhm." She mumbles sleepily and I feel her shiver. I switch it off and darkness surrounds us. I then grab my blanket and lay it over us as I lie back down, this time on my side facing her.

"It's dark. I can't see you."

"I'm right here, Yoshi." I tell her, rolling my eyes.

"Good. Goodnight, San." She whispers, using my nickname again. It's weird for her to call me that, she hasn't ever before. She shivers again. I sigh and make a quick decision. My body presses against hers, arm wrapping around her waist.

"Oh, well hello there. You're warm."

"Yeah, and you're cold. You tell _anyone_ I'm doing this… Let's just say it won't end well, got it?" I threaten her. The last thing I need is someone finding out I snuggled with the gremlin.

"I won't, it'll be our secret, non demon Santana. Just, don't let me go. My shivering has lessened already, thank you. Too bad our wolf friends aren't here; their fur would keep us warm in this dank cave." She says as she squeezes my hand, making it tingle. I ignore the feeling. She presses back into me, her ass hitting a spot that has me grunting and closing my eyes.

I try to ignore that feeling, too.

Wait, wolf friends? Right, funny. There aren't any wolves in this area, are there? Nah. And, even if there were, they wouldn't be friendly. I sigh and let sleep take me, too tired to think anymore.

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Santana

Woken up by a loud voice, my eyes blink as they adjust to the light. "Knock knock, rise and shine you two. Will, I mean Mr. Schuester is preparing breakfast." Ms. Pillsbury calls out to us with her cheery voice. I groan and shut my eyes, snuggling back into the warmth.

"Santana, Rachel! The food is going to get cold... what's left." Finn calls out. "You don't think they killed each other do you?" He mumbles to Miss Pillsbury from outside of the tent.

"Me and my boy Kurt call solos!" I groan again at Mercedes voices, now disturbing my much needed sleep, willing them to shut up and leave us alone.

Wait, Rachel? Shit, we're still snuggled. This isn't weird at all... and doesn't feel good, nope. "Berry, wake up, its morning." I remove myself but don't get far before she's rolling back into me.

"We can't get Puck, Sam or Quinn up either, Mr. Schue. Maybe we should let them sleep a little longer." Finn speaks again; I'll have to thank him later.

I can hear Mr. Schue's sigh from here. "Fine, but they're wasting this beautiful fall day. What do you guys want to do first? We could go out on the trails or go fishing?" Mr. Schue gives in for now, and I tune the rest out, closing my eyes.

I wake for a third time at Finn's voice as he calls into someone else's tent this time. "Guys come on! I'm coming in since we can't get you up through the tent. Dude, is that a plant?" My eyebrow rises at the word plant. I don't even want to know.

Our tent zipper unzips and Quinn crawls through. "Hey, you're awake. And... Rachel is still knocked out. It doesn't surprise me; Puck and Sam are being difficult, too." She says with a light laugh, coming over closer. "Rachel, wake up." Q tries, shaking her. "Open those eyes."

"Hmm? Sleepy." Berry mumbles against our shared pillow, not moving an inch.

"I know you are, but Mr. Schue wants us up. We're supposed to be going on a walk or something." Trying again, Quinn gently squeezes her shoulder, but doesn’t even earn a budge from the worn out girl.

Smirking evilly, I snake a hand under Rachel’s shirt, fingernails tickling her side.

"Mmm, not ticklish." She moans softly, not giving me the reaction I expected. Q and I exchange looks. I slide my hand out, fingers rubbing against her soft as silk skin.

Damn.

Huffing, Quinn flicks her nose.

"Ow, my nose!" She jumps awake, covering her nose protectively with a pout.

"Ha, that did the trick. Sorry, Berry." Quinn apologizes sheepishly.

"I don feel so well." Rachel groans with a grimace, and her eyes droop before she falls back down to the pillow.

"Oh no you don't." Quinn grumbles as she pulls Rachel back up. "I know you feel like shit, but we're going to go take the trails into the woods. You never know, you might run into some interesting critters out there."

I grab Yoshi's bag and sift through it, looking for something for her to wear. I find a pair of skinny jeans and a decent top. "Berry, did you steal this bag? I don't see any of your fugly sweaters or plaid skirts." I'm honestly surprised at my find as I stare at the clothes in my hands. I pass them over to her, noticing that Rachel is being awfully quiet and unresponsive to my comments. Well, not awfully quiet, it's actually a relief for her not to be yammering on and on.

I turn to look at her and I'm met with Quinn taking Berry's shirt off, exposing her - I reluctantly admit - flawless skin.  _Damn. Why did we even come up with those nicknames? There isn't a treasure trail in sight._

"Why don't you wear these types of clothes to school? Nice bra by the way, I'd expected it to be argyle." Quinn comments, eyes staring at said bra.

I raise a brow and clear my throat. She looks at me and then away, blushing at having been caught staring at Berry's underwear. She quickly helps her put the top on, and then lays her back to pull off Berry's cotton PJ bottoms. Rachel is seriously spaced out and oblivious to what's happening. My eyes travel the expanse of skin that is revealed as Q inches the pants off. Her panties match the bra; it's a black lacy set. I lick my lips at the surprisingly hot body Berry has, but shake my head of the thoughts coursing through it. 

_I am such a pervert._

* * *

 

Rachel

I'm helped out of our tent by firm, guiding hands, but I don't feel like going anywhere. I try to piece last night together, and wonder what happened exactly? I have these thoughts and flashes in my head, though I'm unsure of what's real and what's not. I'm thinking I should ask Quinn about it, because her face keeps popping up in my memory.

"Good, you're all up. Breakfast is cold for you guys, what was left of it, so you will either have to eat that or something you brought yourself." Mr. Schuester is talking a mile a minute as he walks over to us. "Rachel, I'm surprised that you slept this late; don't you usually get up at 6:00am every morning? It's now 10:00."

"Yes, I do get up at that hour and start my morning routine, but I wasn't feeling well this morning, and in all honesty, I still feel quite badly. I'm most definitely not hungry." I reply tiredly, not in the mood for anything but a bed and pillow, and maybe someone to cuddle with... like Santana. I do remember that we slept all night with her holding me, but I don't understand why. I do know that it felt nice, though. "What are we supposed to be doing today?" I yawn widely, covering my mouth.

"Do you feel sick? We were going to hike one of the trails; do you think you could walk it? If not, someone will have to stay here with you while we go, and as far as I know, everyone wants to go walking."

"Mr. Schue," Quinn thankfully steps forward and stops him from talking. "I'll walk with Rachel and if she needs to go back I can stay with her. She really wasn't feeling good last night." I notice that the group gives Quinn weird looks for volunteering to take care of me, like why in the world would the HBIC who hates Man-hands Berry volunteer to spend time with her? I'm a little confused myself. I don't really trust her or Santana; they have put me through so much these past few years, but I would like to trust them both if they did genuinely care.

It just may take some time before I let my guard down enough.

"That's very nice of you, Quinn. Is that okay, Rachel? If you feel the need to walk back here and lie down, she and one of the guys can come back with you, for safety reasons." Mr. Schue smiles appreciatively at Quinn.

"Yes, that's fine with me, Mr. Schue. Thank you, Quinn." I'm reluctant to be left alone with her, but I have to give her a chance at some point, right?

I barely smile at her, but it's all I can manage right now.

"Don't mention it. You need to eat something before we go, though. I have some crackers that you can have, if you'd like? They might help if you're feeling ill."

After eating a few of Quinn's crackers, we all head out for the trail. It's supposed to be one of the more scenic but tougher trails so we only take necessary items like water, food and a first aid kit, in case someone happens to get hurt. Mr. Schue is leading in front with Ms. Pillsbury, and Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina behind them. Mike and Finn next, along with Brittany and Santana, then Puck and Sam. Quinn and I are last, walking the slowest because of me. Puck and Sam also seem to be sluggish, but they don't want to be seen as wimps by the other guys, so they're powering through.

"Hey, Quinn?" We're about thirty minutes into our walk when I finally decide to ask some questions. "I know something went on last night and I'm still just trying to put it all together, but my mind seems extraordinarily foggy this morning. I know that you and Santana were there... and I remember Puck and Sam at some point." I hope that she can shed some light on the situation.

Quinn glares ahead of us, seemingly at the two boys stumbling along. She sighs. "Rachel, I'm not sure this is the best time to have this conversation. You'll end up getting upset and angry, and then things will get loud because I'm going to end up yelling at Puck and Sam."

"You called me Rachel..." I say, stopping in my tracks to look at her. Then remember what she just said about yelling at Noah and Sam. I was sat out by the fire with them last night drinking some tea with alcohol in it. Surely that sip of alcohol couldn't have done much damage; I've drank before in moderation.

"Um, yeah." She shrugs off the use of my actual name as though it didn't mean anything, before changing the subject back to our previous topic. "How about me and you hang back and talk while they continue on the trail?"

"We could do that. I'm really too tired to walk the whole trail anyway. I thought that I'd slept particularly well last night and Santana is surprisingly a good snuggler, but I feel like I didn't sleep for nearly long enough." I agree to hang back with her. She throws her head back and lets out a laugh. My eyes fall to her throat and, suddenly, I want nothing more than to run my tongue up along the creamy skin.

The first time I'd noticed Quinn in this way was the first time we met. She had always been so beautiful and I found her especially alluring in her cheerleading outfit, like a cheerleading angel. I knew I wanted her physically, but she dashed my first girl crush when she and Santana threw the first ever slushy at me freshman year. As they walked up to me, I thought that they looked really good together, a force to be reckoned with. And I was right. My feelings for her and possibly Santana went to the back of my mind as they started torturing me, and that's when I turn my attentions to Finn Hudson. I exaggerated my feelings for him, only wanting someone to help me get over who I really wanted.

I did and do still care for him, he has the best male leading voice for me, but we didn't work in the end. I find myself more and more okay with that everyday since our break up.

"Rachel!"

I blink, coming back from my thoughts at Quinn's yelling of my name. "Yes?"

"I called you twice. Are you okay? You were staring at me, spaced out again." Her eyebrows furrow and I can't help but smile at her obvious concern.

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I got caught up in my thoughts. I would like to stay back with you so that we can in fact talk." I know that I need her to piece everything together, she can help, I hope.

Quinn raises a fine brow at me. "Apparently you haven't noticed, but the others have already left without us. So go ahead and start off with what you remember. Why were you with Puck and Sam last night?" I look around as she talks, everyone indeed is gone from eyesight, but I can hear some of their voices; they aren’t too far ahead.

I take a few moments to gather my thoughts. "Okay, I woke up in the middle of the night needing to pee. Not wanting to go alone, I asked Santana to go with me. Noah and Sam were by the fire still, so afterwards I joined them for a drink while San went back to our tent." This is the bit I remember quite clearly. "I grabbed Sam's mug to see what they were drinking, as I was really thirsty, but they both warned me not to drink it. Apparently, it had alcohol in it. I wasn’t as worried as I should have been, though, and drank some anyway. It didn't taste like any was in it, so I took a couple more sips. Noah told me after that, that it would hit me and not to be alarmed if I started to feel drunk. The last thing I remember is walking to my tent when we decided to call it a night." I tell her all that I remembered and then look to her to see what she has to add to it.

"So they warned you at least, but they didn't try hard enough and you didn't listen." She shakes her head as she speaks. "You still aren't fully to blame. There's nothing wrong with wanting to taste alcohol, we’re teenagers, but, Rachel, what you drank wasn't alcohol. They should've told you that so you would have known what you were drinking." She scowls, letting her anger get the better of her, before calming herself. "Have you ever heard of magic mushrooms or shrooms?" She replies with a sigh as she sits down onto a tree stump.

"Shrooms?" I gasp, getting a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"Yeah, wild mushrooms with hallucinogenic effects." She pulls me down to sit besides her. "I'm not surprised or mad that they used them, I'm pissed that they did it without anyone sober knowing, and letting you drink it. It was immature and irresponsible of them. We're in the woods; anything could have happened to you three, other than what did.

Do you remember anything at all after that?"

I frown, extremely upset about last night, but not exactly mad, not really, just confused mostly. I think hard on what happened after I went back to my tent. "I got lost in the woods and I was cold and scared. Then... I ran into an animal, I think? I remember it being huge, then there was an angel who looked like you, and Sam and Noah showed up, along with two other... what were they? Dogs?"

"Wolves, three of them, and they were definitely huge." I see a blush color her cheeks, a white tooth peek out to nibble on her bottom lip. "And, uh… the reason the angel looked like me is because it _was_ me." She mumbles, eyes cast away.

I can see how I would think she was an angel, but how embarrassing is that? Wolves though, in these woods, seem very strange to me, but if she says that the animals I saw were wolves, then they must've been wolves. She wasn't the one who was high and hallucinating. I chew on my lower lip as I continue to strain my drug addled mind for what happened.

"After we all found each other, the wolves, who you Puck and Sam named," She rolled her eyes at that, apparently in disbelief that we three had named the wild animals. "Led us back to our tents. You kept calling them caves." She chuckles a little. "I made Puck and Sam go to bed. They had a plant with them that Puck had torn out of the ground, he named it Fern. They took it into their tents and had it in the middle of them. When I opened yours, you spotted Santana and thought she had fallen from up high in the cave; you were very worried about her. She of course didn't know what was going on and thought we were messing with her. Once we got you settled down, I left and went back to mine so that B wouldn't have to sleep alone all night. Not sure what happened after I left, though apparently you and S snuggled, which I find hilarious." She explains in detail, highly amused and grinning wider than I’ve seen her grin in a long time.

I find myself laughing at the whole thing. I can't believe I got high last night, met wolves, and snuggled with Santana Lopez. 

_This will make an excellent chapter in my early year's memoirs_.

Quinn laughs along with me, which makes me laugh more, and before I know it we're leaning and holding onto each other, busting at the seams.

"What are you two crazies laughing at?" Santana's voice startles us and we shoot upright, looking at her.

Quinn snickers. "You and Berry snuggling, that's what."

_Uh oh._

Santana's eyes narrow at that, and she points deadly eyes at me, glaring fire. "You said that you weren't going to say anything. You're going to regret opening that big mouth of yours, Stubbles." Santana growls at me, mad as hell.

I flinch and lean more into Quinn for safety as Santana sneers at me, before stalking off back towards the campsite.

"Sorry." Quinn sighs heavily. "I didn't mean to make her pissed at you. Maybe we should go talk to her?" Apologizing, Quinn frowns in the direction Santana went.

I let out a long breath and look down, scuffing the toe of my shoe against the dirt. "Why are you being so nice to me? Why would you even go look for me last night?"

She stares at me for a little while before scooting closer. "Maybe I'm tired of being a bitch all of the time." She answers softly. "I don't hate you, okay? We can talk more later on, when we're back at the campsite. Let's just go find S and try and convince her into not retaliating Monday morning." Her fingers touch my shoulder and I look up at her. Our eyes lock, but I look away first, the sudden urge to kiss her becoming overwhelming. I start to walk away and she follows.

Once we make it back to our site, we spot Santana sitting around the ash remains of last nights fire, chatting with three strange girls. Looking to Quinn and seeing her frown, I come to the conclusion that she doesn't know the other girls either.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel

We walk over to them, curious as to whom they are. "Hey, who're your new friends, Santana?" I ask her, looking at the three attractive girls.

"Hi, we came up here to see if the area was available." One of them, a girl with sparkling green eyes and light brown shoulder length hair, greets us, holding out her hand. "I see it isn't free, but we got to talk to this girl here who seemed to be all alone, instead of going to find another spot. I'm Devon; it’s nice to meet you."

I shake her hand first. "It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Rachel, this is Quinn, and you've already met Santana. There is room over there, across from us, for your tents if it's just you three."

From the gentle almond shape of her dark eyes, I'm guessing that Devon is from Asian decent, Japanese maybe, but there's also something else. She's not too much taller than me, maybe two inches, and very pretty.

"If it's okay with you guys, we might do just that. It is just us three. I'm Riley." I smile widely as I turn to her, breath catching in my throat from how beautiful she is. This girl is around 5 ' 6'', Quinn's height. She has alluring smokey gray eyes and hair so dark that it’s jet black. Her straight shoulder length hair with long tips in the front would probably look a little severe on most with her pale skin, but on her, it looks absolutely stunning. She smiles at me and shakes my hand.

I smile back as I try not to stare.

"I'm Aris." A blonde girl steps into view and I have to tear my eyes away from Riley. Showing perfect teeth, her friendly smile grows. "And we would love it if you shared the site with us." Aris is almost as tall as Brittany, with hair so blonde that it's practically white, traveling past her shoulders to mid-back in gentle waves.

Her eyes are the turquoise color of a tropical ocean.

These girls are ridiculously beautiful, eyes, hair, and even their skin, unique and extremely eye catching.

* * *

 

Riley

I let my eyes drift to my companions and we communicate silently. 'She seems to be doing better; at least she is sober now.' I fight the way my lips drift into a smirk. 'I'm glad we came back. They need protecting incase the rogue wolf decides to come back around here, and I really wouldn't mind getting to know these girls.' I tell Dev and Aris, smiling at the two teenage girls that we met last night.

'Yeah, I bet you do, I see the way you’re looking at them, Ri, especially that Quinn girl. And, if I'm not mistaken she's having a hard time looking away from your eyes, she probably recognizes them, but won't make the connection.' Aris snickers in my head, all the while keeping a perfect smile on her face. 'Don't worry; we'll protect them if Gabriel shows up.' She nods her head slightly in determination.

She, more than any of us, craves making new friends outside of our relatively small pack.

I notice then that the pretty Latina girl, Santana, looks pissed, not meeting Quinn or Rachel's eyes, and I come to the conclusion that something must have happened between them.

"Well, we're going to go set up, but we'll be back over to talk more. Are you and your group staying another night?" Devon's also noticing the tension as well and decides to give the others a little time to hopefully clear the air.

"I think we are." Rachel answers for them. "Do you need any help?" She asks politely.

"Good, and no thanks, we've got it covered. Come on you two." I decline with a smile and walk away, Dev and Aris tell them bye and follow me. We grab our stuff along the way and head over to the other side of the site where it's big enough for our three tents. We had debated over bringing just one tent, but chose separate incase any of the girls wanted to hang out with one or all of us.

I'm hoping I can get Rachel and or Quinn in mine.

As we set up, I tune in to the teens conversation on the other side.

"San, can we talk?" Rachel voice sounds timid, even from here.

"Leave me alone. I have nothing to say to you, Treasure Trail." Treasure trail? That's mean and untrue, there's no way she has a damn treasure trail.

" _Please."_ Rachel tries again. "I'm sorry I told Quinn about us cuddling last night, but she told me to tell her everything I remembered and that was one of the things, it slipped out. I'm sure she won't say anything to the others. Are you going to slushy me Monday?" Rachel tries again apologetically and a bit scared.

I frown. Slushy? Who slushies people? That's fucked up. I'm not sure I like this girl very much, not if she bullies Rachel.

"Nobody would believe her anyway." Santana snaps. "Why would Santana Lopez spend the night cuddling with Rachel Berry? Whatever, it won't happen again. And I haven’t decided anything. Guess you’ll have to wait and see." She chuckles cruelly, eyeing Rachel threateningly. I'm actually disappointed in that answer, and pissed at how she treats Rachel, even in front of strangers, because for some strange reason, Rachel seemed to want to be friends with this angry girl.

By the time we are done, the rest of the group is back and mingling with each other, some of them glancing at us from time to time.

We decide to go back over and meet the rest.

"Oh, hello again." Rachel actually beams at us and I can't help but return her infectious grin. "Come sit with us, we were about to eat lunch." She's patting the spot beside her on a flat rock.

I smile and sit down beside her as Aris and Devon take a seat by Sam. The group stops what they are doing and look over at us curiously.

"You our new neighbors?" Puck leers, taking turns between the three of us. I don’t have to be a thought reader to know what his disgusting teenage mind is thinking.

We strike up a conversation with each other, all talking casually and eating lunch, which they were nice enough to share. The rest of the day is spent hanging out, walking in the cool night air before it became too dark, and fishing in the pond. Rachel, however, had refused to fish, not believing in killing the poor animals. Apparently she's vegan. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose... We werewolves live on meat.

I choose to sit out with her so she won't have to sit alone.

Well, there is the obvious gay kid who isn't fishing either, along with Santana who is brooding in her tent, but neither of them attempt to keep Rachel company.

I look at my cell for the time as I sit down beside the tiny girl. It's now 5:25pm. "Hey, what are you thinking about?" I ask her curiously, honestly wanting to know.

"Nothing you would care to know about." She says softly, shrugging and peering at the unlit fire.

I nudge her shoulder until she looks at me, staring into my eyes. "That's not true, I asked didn't I? It's okay, tell me."

"I was just thinking on how I wish things were different for me at school." She shrugs. "I have no friends and that girl over there." She points towards Santana. "Treats me like crap on a daily basis." She goes quiet for a little while and I nudge her again, hoping that she'll talk to me. "I hate it." She sighs. "I don't know what I did wrong. How could I be that bad for them to torture me like they do? I know I can talk too much, and I'm really competitive when it comes to the solos in glee, and I admit to dressing badly, but is that really enough for them to treat me like I'm some disease?" She opens up, telling me all as tears form in her eyes.

I feel myself glare in Santana's direction to find that she's already looking this way with a curious expression on her face. I hide my surprise well. She raises her brow in question to my glare and I turn my head back to Rachel.

"She and Quinn are the popular girls at school, I can tell. Santana seems like a bitch, Quinn maybe not as much? You shouldn't listen to what they say, you are better than that, better than them. Everyone has their faults, but that doesn't mean she should treat you like that. I don't even know you, or her, and I'm pissed that she would treat you that horribly." I can't help but rant, affected deeply, until I see her tears stream down her cheeks. "Hey, don't do that, they aren't worth your tears, Rachel. Come here, its okay." I try to reassure her, and as she starts crying, I pull her into my side, wrapping an arm around her waist. She lays her head on my shoulder. I feel bad for Rachel, she doesn't deserve that shit.

I just need to teach her how to stick up for herself instead of shedding tears.

"Tell me what glee club is, and what the hell is wrong with what you are wearing? You look fine." I add in, wanting to know, _needing_ to know what reason that girl has to torment Rachel, because from the looks of things, and she does look cute even blubbering all over my shoulder, Rachel is a gorgeous young woman with a passionate personality.

So, _why?_

"This isn't my normal attire." She shudders as her sobs subside. "In school I wear the worst clothes I own, mostly gifts from distant relatives and grandparents, because I get slushied everyday. There's no point in wearing my good clothes, since they will just covered in dyed corn syrup and ice." She swipes the back of her hand under her eyes. "Glee club is a group of kids who sing, show choir, that's what we are. Mr. Schuester is our coach and we sing at competitions for the school."

I almost miss the bit about singing because I'm steaming about the other crap.  _Okay, that really is fucked up, what a bitch._  Glee club sounds interesting, though. "You're what, sixteen? Juniors, right? What are you planning to do when you graduate?" I'm hoping that this beautiful soul can something of herself, and eventually leave these high school bitches in the dust.

"Oh, I'm going to New York once I graduate, to Juilliard. I'll be a star on Broadway. I have a life plan." She lifts her head, mood instantly changing. She smiles brightly and I can't help but grin at her positive attitude. Can I be part of her life plan?

"That sounds great; with that attitude you'll become whatever you set out to be. You have less than two years of high school left, I say show those bitches what you’re made of and stand up for yourself. Don't let them get you down, like I said, you are better than that." I tell her with my own conviction, hoping to get through to her. She needs a major self esteem boost.

"That's easier said than done."

"But you need to try, Rachel." I give her a gentle squeeze. "You're a beautiful, smart, caring, independent girl who knows what she wants in life, and you need to show them that." I say truthfully, hurting for this girl. I pull her tightly against my side again and lay my head on hers.

"Y-You think I'm beautiful?" She asks shyly, as if not sure she should believe my words.

All I can think is God, yes.

"Hey, what's going on? You okay, Berry?" Quinn's voice interrupts us before I can answer. She sounds a bit concerned and it's probably because Rachel had been crying.

I lift my head and we both look at her.

"Hello, Quinn. I'm quite all right, we were just talking." Rachel answers her with false cheer, obviously lying. "Thank you for asking, though."

"But, you've been crying." Quinn's sharp eyes narrow as she calls Rachel out on her lie.

"Did she say something to you?" She looks at me with a slight glare.

"I really don't know why you care, but no, Riley has been nothing but kind to me. Unlike some of you." Damn, go Rachel! Tell the bitch off. Oh, damn, Quinn is actually taken aback, hurt spreading across her beautiful face, and something tells me she cares more than Santana.

Maybe she regrets treating Rachel like shit.

"I deserve that, I do, but you have to know that I do care about you and I really don't like it when you cry." Quinn looks away and speaks softly. She turns her gaze back to Rachel, looking her in the eye. "I'm, I'm sorry." She swallows hard and then takes off quickly.

Something tells me that I'm right.

"Am I dreaming? Did Quinn Fabray just apologize to me?" Rachel, perplexed and a little hopeful, asks unsurely.

I chuckle softly. "You aren't dreaming, little one, Barbie just apologized to you." I reply, smiling at her.

The corners of her mouth turn up, but she doesn't return the smile completely.

"I think I'm going to go lie down for a little while, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we can hang out later tonight?" She announces in a daze, getting up.

I stand with her and pull her into a hug. "Its okay, go with it, I really think she's being sincere. I read people easily." I tell her my opinion as she hugs tentatively back.

"I don't know. It's hard to trust her; I'm scared of giving in." She whispers, unsure of believing Quinn.

I don't blame her.

"I can't tell you what to do, just to follow your heart. Remember in a short time you won't ever have to see her again if you choose not to." I say softly, pulling back enough to look at her.

"The thought of never seeing her again terrifies me, but if I let her in, she'll have the power to break my heart." Oh, maybe Rachel cares about Quinn more than she lets on as well. That's hot, and heartbreaking, the situation that she's in.

She pulls away and walks off before I can say anymore, her tears spilling over again. Damn this girl is really torn on what to do and believe. Maybe I should have myself a talk with Quinn tonight, invite her into my tent.

"What the hell is up with Berry? Why is she a sobbing mess, you make her cry?" Santana storms over, scowl in place, questioning me as if she cares.

"No, you did."

"Excuse me? I didn't do shit. You were the one over here talking to her. What did you say?" She gets up in my face, anger coming off her in waves.

"You're a little spit fire aren't ya?" I'm thinking that this girl would be a hell of a good time if she weren’t such a bitch. "Why do you care if I made her cry or not anyway? You apparently do it all the time." She falters slightly at that, but has her bitch face back on in a split second.

"She open that big mouth of hers and tell you that? What else did she say about me, that I'm the Devil incarnate? Whatever, you don't know anything about me, so back off before I slap that smug look off your pretty face." She snarls as she crosses her arms over her chest. She's trying to be all badass with her glaring and threatening shit, but simple psychology tells me that crossing your arms is a defensive move.

Also, I didn’t miss that she just called me pretty.

"You're right, I don't know you, but I know your type. Let me guess, cheerleader? You and Blondie rule the school, picking on the bottom of the food chain with your all mighty power. You think you're better than them, when in fact Rachel is better than you will ever be. You will never deserve her friendship or forgiveness, not if you continue on the destructive path you're on, pushing away anyone who actually gives two shits about you." I tell her how I see it, letting her know how she does things is fucked up, before striding away from her.

Anger is not going to get me anywhere right now, so I go to my tent to chill out.

* * *

 

Quinn

Later in the night, after we eat again, the three girls from earlier come back to sit with us by the fire. Mr. Schuester suggests that we sing, so Puck takes out his guitar. Kurt starts us off and I observe the group as he sings. Almost everybody is paying attention to the song with the exception of Santana, who seems to be alternating between pouting to herself, glaring at Riley, and glancing at Rachel with an unreadable expression. I gaze at Riley; she's looking around the group as well. Her eyes land on me, they seem to be darker in the flickering fire, and I hold her gaze as her eyes bore into mine, as if she's searching my soul.

My heart starts to race and then clenches in protest when she looks away.

The songs continue with Mercedes, Puck, and then Brittany, all sounding wonderful.

"Rachel, I want to hear you sing." Riley looks to her, smiling softly.

Rachel's face brightens up and she nods eagerly, calling out the name of a song to Puck for him to strum on his precious guitar. The notes of 'Need You Now' by Lady Antebellum start up and she and Puck both sing it like they did in glee.

The new girls' faces are in awe, especially Riley's. She looks kind of smitten, but for whom I'm not sure.

Once the song is over, claps and praises go around for both of them. Riley stands up and walks over to Rachel, kneeling down in front of her. "That was awesome. You were great, and you have a beautiful voice, Rachel." She whispers just loud enough for only the people next to them to hear, including me. My heart kind of melts when she leans in and gives Rachel a hug. It makes me happy to see her being treated nicely instead of the way she gets treated by us.

I'm trying to change that.

"Thank you, Riley. I pride myself on my voice, it's really the only thing I have. I do have to say I'm surprised that you are hugging me in front of the others." And just like that, my heart breaks again at Rachel's words, knowing I'm a part of the reason for her to feel that way.

"I'm sure that your voice isn't the only thing you've got going for you. And why wouldn't I hug you? I have no problem hugging people in front of other people who think they are better then everyone else. I'm not doing it for them, I'm hugging you for you, and you deserve it." Riley replies tenderly, only hugging her tighter.

Rachel hugs back without another word.

"Hey, what about me? Wasn't I great, too? Don't I get a hug?" Puck pouts at them from beside me, holding out his arms, having put his guitar up.

"Yeah, of course you were. Everyone here really has great voices." Riley pulls away and answers with a laugh, standing and going over to him. She hugs him lightly, nowhere near as intimately as Rachel's hug.

Jealousy bubbles up within me, swift and surprising.

"That was great. See why we brought you here? You're all are bonding like you should, so keep it up. This group needs to be a true family, no one gets left out." Ms. Pillsbury voices her happiness on the outcome of the trip. She obviously is missing the tension between Rachel and Santana, and with how much Santana is killing Riley with her eyes.. The tension is mounting.

"Emma, err, Ms. Pillsbury is right, good job, guys. Who wants roasted marshmallows?" Mr. Schuester agrees, but seems to notice the strain between Rachel and Santana.

Everyone starts getting out the marshmallows and... hangers?  _Hm, guess they're for holding the marshmallow over the flame._  Conversation picks up as the mood stays lightened, mostly anyway. We eat until we're out of the gooey puffs, sharing them until the bag is empty. Eventually, the group calls it a night one by one. All leaving until it's just me, Rachel, and our three new friends.

Rachel sighs as she looks across the site to her tent. "Well, I'm tired, too. I'm going to, um, go to my tent. If you see my head rolling out, you know who to blame." She announces reluctantly, making a joke, but seemingly scared for real.

"Rachel, why don't you come sleep with one of us? I'm turning in; you can share my tent so that you won't have to sleep beside that demon of a girl." Aris, the tall blonde, glances at Rachel's tent where Santana is, before her face drops into a scowl.

"I wouldn't want to impose, and you don’t really know me-oh, but maybe if you don't mind?" Rachel starts to reply, but sees Aris' look and changes her words.

"Nope, don't mind." Aris turns a quick grin on Rachel. "Come on, I have an extra blanket and pillow you can use. Don't want you to chance having a brawl in there with her. That okay?"

Thankful, Rachel agrees with a shy yes.

They say their goodnights and take off, Rachel glancing back at me and Riley as she follows Aris to her tent.

"I'm going, too. Goodnight, Ri, Quinn." Devon hugs Riley tightly, and then gives my shoulder a small squeeze.

"Okay, Quinn. Now that I have you alone, you and I are going to talk."

My eyes widen at Riley's words, confused and surprised at her change of mood. "What about?" I give her my full attention.

"About Rachel. Let's go to my tent." She tilts her head to the large, blue tent in between Devon and Aris’.  "Don't worry, I'm not going to axe murder you." She smirks at me. "I just want to clear some things up, okay?" She reassures in a softer tone, realizing my instant worry.

"Okay, I guess? I-I’ll just put the fire out first." I give in hesitantly, nervous and wary.

She nods with a patient, crooked smile. I put the fire out with the few buckets of pond water laying around on standby, and then turn my lantern on. After a last glance around, she leads me toward their side, a little away from the safety of my group.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one is a wee bit short.. but not to worry, the chapters will definitely become larger. Thank you for those who have an interest in this so far :)

Quinn

After entering the two person tent, Riley zips it up and we settle on her soft pile of blankets. We stare at each other in the soft glow of light provided by the lantern, and my heart starts to race again. She's making me nervous.

"I'll try and make this quick." Riley takes a breath before continuing. "I know that we've only known each other for a day, and I like you, all of you I mean, but I can see that Rachel is in need of a friend, a real one, and I plan on staying in touch with her. I'm going to be her friend. So, I am giving you a warning, Quinn, either show her that you're for real or leave her the hell alone. That girl is a tear away from a nervous breakdown; do you want that for her?"

Her words spark a rage within me, my nervousness gone. "Excuse me? What right do you have to warn me like that? Are you seriously threatening me to stay away from Rachel?"

"No, Quinn, that isn't what I meant." I watch Riley sigh with what looks like frustration and I pause in my plan to storm out of her tent. "I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm certainly not stooping down to your level unless absolutely necessary, though I have a feeling that Santana could test my control. I'm just saying that Rachel needs you. I can see that you want to be there for her, but you need to make that happen before it's too late." She counters softly, laying a hand over mine.

A familiar stirring, which I can only describe as butterflies fluttering in my stomach, makes itself known and I realize that I haven't felt this since Finn and I first started to date. My anger recedes as she holds my gaze like earlier. I know that she's right; Rachel's bubbly personality slowly diminishes as time passes and she's already half the girl she used to be. "I'm trying, Riley." I look down at my hands as I softly admit that being Rachel Berry's friend is what I've recently been striving for. "I want her to be able to trust me, but I know that it's not going to happen overnight."

I actually want to try and be Rachel Berry's friend. It's a crazy notion and something nobody will believe, but is the power I have in school really worth her health? No, even I'm not that cruel.

"Good. All you can do is try, and at least you're willing to make the effort." She smiles at me and I smile in return. "With you and me working together on this, we can build her self esteem back up." She removes her hand from mine to run her fingers through her hair and I'm struck with the sudden feeling of loss. I ignore it, I'm good at that.

* * *

 

Later, Santana

The chill of the night wakes me and I notice that sometime during the night I had kicked off my pants. I thought it strange that I went to sleep so warm and wake up shivering from the cold seeping into the tent. I'm too lazy to drag them back on, so instead I pull the covers up to my chin and curl up more.  _Wait a minute, where's Berry?_  This tent is as dark as hell, but I can tell that she isn't lying beside me. I don't hear her soft breathing, she doesn't snore loudly.

I sit up and fish for my phone, checking the time, 1:19am. She never came to bed.  _Shit, what if that 'Ms. think she knows it all' did something stupid like get high again?_   _No, don't be ridiculous, Lopez. Maybe I should check outside for her anyway, because we don't need a repeat of last night. Damn, I missed the fun, though_.

Things are eerily quiet outside. I hurry up and out of our tent, looking around as soon as my feet hit the ground.

I forgot my lantern, but it doesn't matter, no one is out here because the fire has long been put out.  _Where the hell is she?_  My heart does something funny, something like dropping to my feet. It must be from the cold... yeah, that's it.

I grab the light from the tent and turn it on, before stomping over to the other side of the campsite, hitting the first tent I come across.

"Hey, wake the fuck up!" A few seconds later I hear a click and then the tent unzips, light flows out along with Riley's head. She doesn't look happy, but that changes as her eyes travel from my face down to my legs, and with a smirk, she raises an eyebrow. "Berry in there with you?" I ask before she can question my reason for being outside of her tent yelling.

"What's going on?" Quinn's familiar voice asks from inside.

I glare at Riley.

"I think Santana got into the magic tea." Riley quips, and then she blinks and frowns.

"What?" Q pops her head out, confused. Her eyes widen when she sees me. I clench my jaw and fight off an unwanted blush. "Where the hell are your pants?"

"You telling random people about Berry's shroom adventure? What if she's with the cops, huh? Stupid move, Q." I find myself growing angry and impatient.

She furrows her eyebrows, looking confused again. She looks at Riley. "I didn't. How did you…?"

"Santana Lopez!" The shrill of Rachel's voice overlapping Quinn's has me jerking around to face her. She's headed this way.

"Uh Ohh… sounds like someone's in trouble." Riley laughs from beside me and I shoot her another glare, but it's half hearted. All I care about is that Rachel is okay.  _Wait, that's not right, why would I care?_

"Why on earth do you not have any pants on?" She stops in front of me, hands on her hips and eyes roaming over my body. "We are in a public area, and it is too cold for you not to be covered in the appropriate clothing."

I suddenly feel oddly exposed.

Looking around, I search in hopes something will appear for me to throw on, but it's in vain. "I had to pee, and didn't feel like putting any on, not that it's any of your business." I tell her, rolling my eyes and reverting back to bitch mode.

"No, I guess it isn't, but you really shouldn't walk around like that for everyone to see. Now if you will excuse me, I must go relieve myself as well." She replies with a huff, her eyes glancing at my legs again.

She then turns away and walks off towards privacy.

My eyes fall to her ass as she gets farther away, but I shake my head to try and rid myself of the image. When I look back at Riley, she's still wearing a smirk and I have the urge to smack it off of her face. I open my mouth to tell her where she can shove it, but a loud scream pierces the quietness. Before I know what's happening, I'm running in the direction that Rachel went as fast as I can, fear rising up with every step.

As I crash through the bushes surrounding the camp grounds, the sight I'm met with makes me gasp and yell out to her.

"Rachel!"

 


	7. Chapter 7

Present, Riley

'Aris, Devon, he's here!' I call out to them through our connection, running after Santana and then past her, reaching Rachel first as Santana's horrified shout of Rachel's name resonates around us. I charge toward the rogue wolf that has Rachel by the arm, teeth viciously clamped down on tender flesh. I quickly change into wolf form and waste no time in sinking my own teeth into his furry neck. He lets Rachel go with a growl and uses his bigger body to throw me off.

"Oh my God."

"Somebody get Rachel out of here!" I hear Santana and then Aris, the latter ordering them to take Rachel as she runs to my aid.

I make the mistake of turning my head to make sure that she's taken care of and end up getting clawed in my side for my distraction. I growl out, bringing my own claws down and along his face. Aris, now in wolf form, slams into his large body. He takes hold of her neck as she rams him, and they both hit the ground hard. I run over and prepare myself to jump on him but he bolts up quickly and meets me half way. Our claws slice at each other.

"Don't just stand there and watch, get the hell out of here. Berry needs a hospital, damn it!" Quinn hollers at the others, sounding further away, but I don't chance a look in anyone's direction.

I can hear Devon helping them carry Rachel away from the area, they need Dev more than we do right now. 'Why are you here, Gabriel?' I ask the rogue beast as I dodge his attacks.

'For fresh blood.' I can hear his laughter fill my head. 'You can't stop me from being who all of us are meant to be, we're wild animals. We are supposed to eat the weak.'

'Wrong.' Aris growls. 'We're only part animal, you shouldn't let the beast control you. We control it. The innocents you're killing don't deserve to be ripped apart like a chew toy.'

I charge again while they're preoccupied, clawing at his face. I shred his snout and he growls in anger and pain, moving just the littlest bit away.

'You bitch! I am going to enjoy tearing you apart piece by piece until you beg for me to just kill you.'

'Oh, I'm so scared, please no, don't.' I deadpan, not bothered by his lame threat.

Okay, maybe just a little, but me and Aris can take him… right?

He jumps up, reaching for Aris' throat, but I swat him away easily enough. His heavily muscled body doesn't move far before he is jumping again, this time toward me. I dodge, but not fast enough to move away from his second attempt, his teeth bite down on my side and he sinks his claws in, trying to overwhelm me. I try to shake him off, but he's holding steady as he takes me to the ground. 'A little help would be nice anytime now, Air.'  Thrashing around on the ground against his unrelenting grip,  I plead for her to hurry,  but silence is all I get in return.

'I bet you’re scared now, bitch.' His voice sounds in my head, along with evil laughter. 'Looks like your little friend ran away from the big bad wolf. Just you and me now.' He taunts, and then lets me go with a rough shove to my shredded side.

I whimper out in pain as I land on the ground. I try not to laugh back at him, though, as a figure appears behind him, holding a gun in a steady hand.

"I don't run from anything, and unlike you, I care about my friends. I wouldn't dare leave her here with you for _anything."_ Aris smirks as he whirls partly around to face her in surprise. She pulls the trigger before he can either run away or charge for her. The tranquilizer dart flies through the air with a whoosh and easily finds the fleshy part of his exposed flank. He hits the ground a few seconds later with a loud thump.

Winded, bleeding, and in some serious pain, I collapse. 

* * *

 

4:00am, Rachel

I startle awake by someone screaming.

"Rachel, baby, you're okay. It's okay."

My eyes snap open and I close my mouth, the screaming stops. It's then that I realize that I was the one who had been screaming. Tears spring to my eyes as I remember what I was dreaming and the reason for it. My arm throbs in memory as strong arms wrap around me.

"Shh. I've got you now. You're okay." My dad's voice and the gentle rubbing on my back soon soothe me back to sleep.

The next time I wake up isn't as traumatizing, but I want to cry anyway. My arm hurts so badly; I have never experienced such pain before. Both of my dads are asleep in the chairs surrounding my bed, and I frown when I see that no one else is here. I guess that I shouldn't really be surprised. Who cares if Rachel Berry actually gets physically hurt?

I turn my attention to the door when it opens, hope fills me, but gets squashed when a nurse walks in. "Oh, you're awake. How do you feel, honey?" Really? How does she think I feel after having my arm almost ripped off? "I know, stupid question, sorry. How bad is your pain on a scale from 1 to 10?" She apologizes sheepishly and asks, coming over and checking my vitals.

"An 11." I answer croakily without hesitation, the sharp pains and throbbing ache settling in my injured arm.

"Okay, vitals are looking good. I'm going to go get your doctor and see about upping the dose on your pain meds." She smiles at me sympathetically. "He will be able to tell you more about your arm and answer any questions you may have." She squeezes my good shoulder.

"Good." I cough and clear my throat. "I certainly wish to know how bad it is so that I can go back to the campsite and kill the thing that did this to me." I almost snarl, so very angry at the wolf who almost took my arm.

She chuckles before turning to leave me with my sleeping dads. A snore has me turning my head to daddy; he's sound asleep, head lolling to the side. "He's always been a heavy sleeper." Dad pipes up from his chair, his brows crinkling as he looks at daddy and then me. "I'll never know how he can sleep through so much, especially now, when our little girl is in a hospital bed." It's still dark out, but I can see him clearly as he stands up and comes over, pulling me into a gentle hug.

"As soon as you're out of here, I'm driving us back where you were so I can help you kill that damn wolf."

"Dad!" I gasp at him, shocked at his use of a curse word. He never cusses.

"Nothing hurts our baby girl and gets away with it."

The door reopening cuts off my reply to that. Dad pulls away and we give the doctor our full attention. "Hello, Rachel. I'm Doctor Evans; I worked on you when you were rushed in earlier. Do you remember what happened to you tonight, Ms. Berry?" He introduces himself, shaking my hand with a quick, yet firm grip.

"Yes sir. I was bit by a huge wolf in the woods at our camping site. How bad is my arm?" I answer quickly, trying to get to the information on my arm.

"It wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be." He smiles down at me. "The uh… wolf bit you deep enough to tear through muscle and there was some nerve damage, but we're confident that the surgery was a success and that, given time and physical therapy, you should gain full use of your arm. However, since it was a wild animal and we don't know if it had rabies or not, we are going to have to give you a series of three more shots. You've already had one when you arrived."  _Rabies? He's joking right? I can't have rabies!_

"You don't have rabies, baby girl." Seeing the fear on my face, daddy takes a gentle hold on my hand.

"The shots are just a precaution."

I nod and lay back against my pillows. I wish Santana was here… or Quinn or even Riley, well maybe just Riley.

At least she's nice to me.

"Nurse Jenny is going to give you some pain meds and you should rest as much as possible to help the healing process along. I'll check back in a few hours. We'll take a look at your arm, change the bandage, and barring any complications, we'll decide then whether or not you can go home sooner rather than later." Dr. Evans lets me know; smiling softly.

He then turns and walks out of the room.

I slump further into the bed with a sigh, too tired to process the information given to me. "W-Where is everyone else?" I ask my dads as they both come up and tuck me in.

"Honey, its 6:15am." Dad sighs. "I'm sure your classmates are tucked away in their beds now. I sent them all home around 3:30, however, it didn't go without its troubles... you had a few of your friends try and stay, one of them even snuck in here while me and your dad went on a coffee run. I'm sure they will be back today, so just get some rest, okay?" Dad tells me, smiling and squeezing my hand.

_Who tried staying? Who would do that for me? It must have been Riley. I hope she and Aris are all right._ The nurse comes back in with my meds and I sigh in relief. She shoos my dads away, telling them that I should rest with a smile pointed at me, and then proceeds to shoot the liquid heaven into my IV.

"Hey, little one." I'm woken up by a soft voice and a head leaning against mine. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. Fuck, you didn't deserve this, Rachel."

"Riley?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She whispers in my ear, hot tears landing on my cheek.

They aren't mine.

"Riley, this isn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done. I was too far away from any of you to stop him." I tell her, lifting her head up to look at me.

She pulls away, though, wiping at her tears.

"I could have warned you! But now, now it's too late." She yells out angrily, throwing the cup of ice chips that she must've brought for me at the wall.

I jump, startled at her behavior.

"Hey! What the hell is going on in here? Riley?" My head jerks to the door, where an equally angry looking Santana is standing, arms crossed.

"I have to go. I can't… I'm so sorry!" Riley runs out of the room, heavy tears streaming down her face.

I frown in confusion and worry. "You okay, Yoshi? What was that all about?" Santana uncrosses her arms and walks slowly over, standing by my bed.

I have to be dreaming, because there's no way that Santana Lopez is willingly in my presence, checking up on my well being.  _She's probably here to be mean to me because I couldn't go camping without causing a scene_. "Why are you here? Have you come to rub my injury in my face? This is probably something that you've wanted for a long time… well now that you have seen me hurt, you can leave." I feel my anger and hurt increase as she stands there staring at me. I point to the door, asking her to leave, not willing to believe she is here because she cares…  _yeah, right._

Her jaw clenches and she looks away. "I'm not here to rub anything in your face. Just because I'm a bitch doesn't mean that I want you for real hurt, Berry. I just witnessed you being attacked by a fucking wolf! How can you think I would be happy about that? You really do see me as the Devil, don't you?" I'm stuck on the first part, images running through my head of her rubbing her…  _No. Don't even go there, Rachel. Like she would ever rub anything on you, no, she certainly wouldn't._

_Not that I want her to._  

"That's what I thought. Whatever, I'll leave you alone. You won't have to worry about me showing back up." Her voice startles me from my thoughts.

I look at her, but she's already halfway across the room.

"San, wait. I didn't even say anything; you didn't give me a chance." I try stopping her, but she ignores me and continues to the door.

She stops, pausing at the door for a second. "Silence speaks volumes, Berry." Then she's gone.

I slump down into the uncomfortable bed, curling up as best as I can with my hurt forearm, missing her presence more than I should. I feel bad at how things are left between us, not that they were good before, not even close, but now… now it's worse.

Before I can even get comfortable, Nurse Jenny strolls in with a cart. She smiles at me in greeting, "Morning, Rachel. I've come to check your bite and change the bandage."

"Yeah. Good morning." I sigh in response. There really isn't anything good about it, not at all, and it only gets worse when I take a good look at the damage done to my arm. Once the bandage is off, I can't help but gasp, seeing it for the first time. I was expecting the angry red bite marks and punctures on both sides of my forearm, but the wolf had also torn through the flesh with its sharp teeth. I am going to be left with horrific scars from the attack and my mind is having trouble processing anything past those scars.

"You're lucky, you know that? I know it looks bad, but you have to think positive. Just remember that it could've been so much worse." Nurse Jenny talks to me softly as she checks out the cuts and stitches and applies ointment to them. "You survived a wild animal attack fully intact. These scars will heal and lighten up, and yes you will have to live with them for the rest of your life, but guess what? You're alive." She gently wraps a fresh bandage around my arm, and tears cloud my vision as I think on what ifs.

What if Santana and Riley hadn't run after me? I would be _dead._

_Santana ran after me…_   _she was the first voice I heard before Riley saved me from death. She thinks I see her as the Devil even after helping to save me and coming here to see how I was doing. She's right, she may be a bitch but that doesn't mean she would want me hurt like I am and she did come and see me at 8:00 in the morning. Oh, wow._

_Santana Lopez got up before noon to come to the hospital for me?_

_Maybe she isn't as much of a bitch as I thought she was._

_Maybe._

"I'm all done. Are you okay? You zoned out on me, did I upset you?" The nurse breaks me out of my serious thoughts.

I look to her and shake my head. "No, you made me think. Thank you. Do you know when I can go home?"

"Oh, um, you're welcome, sweetie." She grins at me. "I'm not sure yet on when you can leave. I put your arm in a temporary wrap until Doctor Evans gets in to see you, he'll inspect it and let you know when you can go home. But to me, on the outside appearance, everything looks like its healing just fine. He should be with you soon. Just hang in there a little longer." She pats my shoulder. "Your fathers are nearby; I'll let them know you're awake." I give a small smile back and another thank you.

With that, she is gone, leaving me again with my thoughts.

The rest of the day is spent in and out of sleep, being medicated for the pain, inspected by the doctor, and having sporadic visitors. I've been given the okay to head home tomorrow morning and I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. It feels like I haven't been home in forever. Three days is a long time without the comfort and safety my queen sized bed provides me with.

Bright and early the next morning, I am dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, arm wrapped up snuggly, and more than ready to go home. There's a knock at my door, followed by Nurse Jenny popping in, she smiles when she sees me all ready to go.

"Hey, sweetie. I was told to come tell you that your dads won't be able to take you home just yet. They both got pulled into emergency surgeries." I slump onto the bed, pouting at her words.  _How long will I have to wait?_  I want to be at home, in my own bed, in my own shower. Oh, how I desperately need a shower. "Don't worry, we got you a ride and someone to stay with you at home until you fathers can join you. They know how much you wanted to get out of here." She laughs at me knowingly, seeing the look on my face.

I perk up at her reply, but have to wonder who agreed to take me home. She opens the door wider and a familiar, surprising face walks in.

"Hey, Rachel."

 


	10. Chapter 10

"Quinn, hi. Thank you for coming to see me, but I'm afraid you’re a little too late, my ride home is about to walk in any minute now, so I must-"

"Sit your hiney down in this wheelchair, that’s what you must be doing." Nurse Jenny interrupts me as she enters the room, wheeling in a chair.

She smiles at me. "Quinn _is_ your ride, honey."

I look at Quinn, confused.  _Is she serious? Quinn Fabray wants to give me, Rachel Berry a ride home?_  Surely there must be an ulterior motive? "Come on short stack, you heard the lady, sit your ass down so we can get you out of here."

I can do nothing but blink dumbly at her.

* * *

 

Quinn

I watch as Rachel gapes at me, opening and closing her mouth as if she wants to say something, but doesn't. She glances at the chair then back to me. "Quinn?"

"Yes, me Quinn, you Rachel. This wheelchair, sit so we can go." I tease her, pointing to each of us like I'm explaining it to a child, or a cave woman. She glares at me, apparently not finding the humor in it. I sigh, knowing this wasn't going to be easy, but that's fair. "I called up here to speak with one of your dads, to see how you were doing. We talked for a few minutes. He explained that you were doing as well as expected and that you were going home today, then he suddenly said that he had to go, something about an emergency surgery. I had a feeling you weren't going home anytime soon after that, so I volunteered. He accepted after my promise to take care of you. So, if you want to go home, this train is leaving the station and I suggest you get on board." I'm hoping that my little speech will get her motivated, but she continues to stand there and stare at me.

The silence is making me uncomfortable; I'm not used to this side of her. "Alright, suit yourself then, I'm going." I tell her, turning back to the door, but really, I have no intentions of going anywhere without her.

"Wait, don't go!" She calls out sounding desperate and I stop mid-step. "I'm sorry. I-I'm just a little surprised. I would really love to go home." I didn't think she would pass up the opportunity to go home, even if I am the one driving her.

When I turn around to face her, she is already sitting in the wheelchair looking at me hopefully. I smirk and get behind her, taking the handles.

The nurse helps me buckle Rachel into the front seat of my car. Her left arm, clutched to her body, was pretty much useless in pulling the seat belt across herself. I politely thank the nurse for her help, and she smiles at me and then at Rachel.

She gives Rachel a gentle squeeze to her good arm. "No problem. Take it easy and don't put too much strain on that arm. Make sure you take the pain medicine we prescribed for you as soon as you need it. Don't be a hero and try waiting out the pain or it's going to be harder to get rid of." Nurse Jenny gives Rachel a sad face. "And, unfortunately, no showers just yet, only careful bathing. You can't get your arm wet right now. Get your friend to help." Rachel agrees and smiles thankfully at the nurse.

We peel out as soon as she's away from the car. "First things first, I'm taking you to get that prescription filled, then I'm driving you home." I let her know as I head to the pharmacy. When she doesn't reply I glance at her, she has her head back against the seat, her eyes are closed. She looks exhausted.

I pull into a space and put my car into park. Unbuckling, I look over at sleeping beauty. She's breathing softly, her mouth hanging open, and I snicker at the sight.

Her eyebrows scrunch and her mouth closes into a pout. "Don't laugh at me." Oops, she wasn't supposed to hear me, oh well I couldn't help it. She's kind of adorable sleeping.

"Sorry, Berry. We're at the pharmacy, I need your scrip." I shrug even as I apologize and reach for her hospital folder. I take the prescription out of it. "I'll be right back; don't go running off on me." I tease her a little before quickly exiting my car.

After dropping it off, I decide to head back to the car and wait. The pharmacy was busy so it’s going to be a bit of a wait. Before I leave the store, my feet carry me to a rack of stuffed animals and Beanie Babies. I look around at the selection and spot the one that I just have to buy. I grab and pay for it, and then head back out to the car.

Rachel is sleeping again and I manage to hide the gift bag in the backseat, deciding on waiting to give her the toy later. I'm glad Riley called me this morning, not sure if I would have had the nerve to go to the hospital without encouragement. I just wish the call had been under better circumstances. Riley was sobbing into the phone and I could barley understand a word she was saying. I had to calm her down before I could understand why she was calling. She blames herself for what happened to Rachel, and had lost it at the hospital. I tried telling her that it wasn't her fault, but the girl was stubborn and my words weren’t having any affect on her.

As soon as we had hung up, I knew I had to step up and be there for our resident diva, so I called her dad. Step one complete, now I just need her to know she can trust me and that I do care about her. She doesn't need to go through this without any friends. It's a good thing that Riley and I exchanged numbers. I sigh and turn on the radio while we wait.

Rachel wakes as soon as I pull into her driveway, somehow sensing she's home. I help her out of my car and into the house. She leads me upstairs to her room. "I'm going to go take a bath, I feel like I smell or something. Sorry you had to ride in a car with me." She blushes as she apologizes, walking around in her room to gather clothes.

I roll my eyes. "Berry, it's no big deal. I can't smell anything, so just relax, okay?" I smile and step further into her room. "Do you need help with taking a bath? You might want to wait on your dads to get here, can't get your arm wet, remember?"

She looks up at me in horror, her eyes wide. I blink in confusion. "My dads? They cannot see me n-naked! I think I can manage to bathe myself just fine, Quinn." She exclaims, her voice loud and shrill, making me wince. She huffs and storms into her own private bathroom, shutting and locking her door.

"Berry, wait! Before you start, let me cover your arm at least."

After getting her to let me put her arm inside a trash bag and tape it up, she is back in there, water running. I face plant onto her bed, closing my eyes.

This is going to be a long day.

The bed dips beside me. I hadn't realized that I'd fallen asleep, but I must've because Berry now carries the strong scent of fruity shampoo and body wash.

"I didn't mean to wake you, Quinn." Rachel whispers as she slides under the covers. "You can go back to sleep if you want. I plan on resting for a little while." She lies on her back, arm propped up on a pillow.

"It's fine." I yawn as I sit up and stretch. "Do you need anything? Pain meds, food, something to drink?"

She mumbles something incoherently, her eyes already closed. I'll just let her rest for a while. I know that when she wakes up, she'll probably want to talk.

My phone beeps in my pocket. I dig it out and check it. It's a text message from Santana.

-Where the hells r u, Q? Coach is pissed at u 4 not showing up. ~ S.

I read it, not surprised she's asking, but not really caring what her or coach think right now.

I send a quick text back.

-I'm at Berry's. She's home from the hospital. ~ Q

-What r u, her guardian angel now? U actually willingly went over 2 the gremlin’s house? ~ S

-FYI, I brought her home and am staying here until her dads get off work. She needs someone, San. Don't you ever get tired of being a bitch to her? I mean, she's hurt for God’s sake! ~Q

I'm getting pissed now, wondering how she can be so heartless at a time like this.  _Doesn't she care for anyone but herself? With the exception of Brittany, of course._

-FYI, I went 2 see her today, but she accused me of being there to rub her pain in her face. U know what she said when I asked if she really thought of me as the devil? _Nothing._ So whatever. Gots 2 go. ttyl. ~S

Oh, well that's not cool. No wonder she's upset. But still, I'm sure Rachel doesn't think of her like that, she probably just didn't know what to say. Rachel is normally a caring and forgiving person.  _She's going to forgive us, too, right?_  Yeah, just thinking about having that conversation makes me want to crawl into a hole and hide.

I lie back down, this time taking my shoes off and getting under the cover with Rachel. My eyes close and I drift back off to sleep.

* * *

 

6:43PM, Riley

"Riley, you have to tell her. You heard our pack leader, at least one of us has to stay behind and take the girl under our wing." Aris crosses her arms over her chest as she starts to lose her patience with me. "She can't go through this without one of our kind to guide her through it. And you know that she can't go home with us since she's underage. You chose to stay, we get that, but you have to tell her and _soon_ , the full moon will be here before you know it. She needs to be prepared."

"I know that, Aris, but you don't know how hard this is for me. God!" I vent my anger and fear at my friend. "You didn't see him ripping her arm to shreds. And now… _fuck!_ " I'm so damn angry for letting this happen to Rachel.

Now, on the next full moon, Well, let's just say things are going to get hairy.

I plop down on my bed, face in hands as tears start to leak out. "Baby, this is not your fault." Aris sits besides me, her hand rubbing up and down my back soothingly. "What could we have done? You know it won't be all bad, this might actually be good for her." She presses a kiss to my cheek and I sigh because I can't see any good whatsoever in Rachel being attacked so viciously.

"We could have just told them there was a dangerous wolf in the area and that they shouldn't stay another night." I shake my head in regret. "Rachel wouldn't be hurt if I had done that. I don't think she's going to see it as good, Air; she'll probably hate us for not doing something to stop it. That's if she even believes what we tell her."

I can feel Aris glare into the side of my head, but I'm finding it difficult to look at her right now. "If you're going to just think on what ifs, Ri, and not be positive about the situation, then you _really_ don't need to stay. She doesn't need that. You are going to have to be her rock. If she see's that you're scared as much as she is, then-"

" _Fine._ I get it, okay?" I interrupt her mid sentence and return her glare. She didn't see what I did, not the horrible sight of Rachel’s arm dangerously close to being wrenched apart, but I still know that she's right. "I'll try and stop blaming myself and be there for her. There's no way I'm leaving this for someone else to deal with." I'm still scowling at her but she just smiles, chuckles, and then knocks me over flat onto the bed.

We cuddle close, with me, more than her, needing and taking comfort from our embrace.

"Good. Now that's over with, what's for dinner?" Devon jumps on the bed and lies behind me, wrapping her arm around both of us.

Lifting my head as my phone vibrates beside me; I reach between Aris and me, grabbing it.

"Quinn?"

"Quinn's for dinner?" I roll my eyes and smack Devon upside the head.

My friend can be a real goof most of the time, and Aris sometimes too serious, but I love them like crazy.

I answer Quinn's incoming call as I push my hand over Devon's smirking mouth. "Hey, you."

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asks softly, sounding worried.

My heart flutters. "I'm better. How's our patient?" I lie and question her instead. I'm more than comfortable with changing the topic off of me.

"Good, I'm glad." I can hear the tug of a smile in her voice. "You were pretty upset earlier."

Okay, maybe I'm feeling a little better compared to my crying and panicking earlier. "I'm sorry about that; I hope I didn't scare you away?"

"Of course you didn't." Quinn's chuckles lightly. "Anyway, Rachel's home now. I drove her back here and stayed while her dads are working. She's been in and out mostly. I thought that maybe once she'd rested after her bath we would talk, but I don't think it’s going to happen tonight." She sighs down the phone, creating a burst of short lived static, and I just press my cell closer to my ear as I remove the hand covering Devon’s mouth.

"Just give her time, the talk will happen. I wouldn't rush into it if I were you." I say, still embarrassed with myself for crying like a baby in her ear, and grateful that she's decided to go with my topic change.

"No, no rush. I guess I'm just ready for it to be done so we can start over, you know? And speak of the devil, she's calling for me. Let me go for now, I'll call you later sometime." She’s about to hang up, but then I can hear her talking to Rachel. "Oh, hey, Rach. It's Riley. Yeah, hold on. Rachel wants a word with you, here she is." I listen intently with a smile, amused, and wait with growing nervousness to hear Rachel’s voice.

"Good evening, Riley. How're you?" Rachel comes on the line, sounding a little cheerier than I expected her to be.

"Hey, little one. I'm doing well. How's your arm?" I lie again, because really, I feel terrible for letting her get hurt by Gabriel, but that's not something that needs sharing right now.

"Hmm... right now it's quite fine." She giggles. "I wanted to invite you over tomorrow evening, for supper. I have something I wanted to tell you."

She's definitely high, her voice is too upbeat.  _How cute_. I wonder what she wants to tell me. "Sure, I'd love to come over. Is it okay with your parents?" I grin, happy that I'll get a chance to see her even though I'm sure that I'll be getting questioned about what happened in the hospital room.

"They won't mind. I'll text you the time and address later. Right now I need to go call Santana and invite her as well. Have a good night, Riley."

"Wait, Santana? She's going to be there, too? Hello, Rachel?" I try asking her before she hangs up; wanting to know if she's serious, because I have a feeling that if me and Santana end up in a confined space together, it won't turn out pretty. I'm met with the dial tone instead of Rachel's voice. 

_Shit._

* * *

 

7:25pm, Santana

My cell rings from the night stand. I sigh and grab it, checking to see who it is. Quinn. Of course. "What, Q?"

"Hello, Santana." Oh, that's for sure _not_ Quinn's voice.

"Yoshi?" I ask, looking at the caller I.D. again, just to be sure. It says Quinn.

"I don't see the resemblance between me and that little green creature." She huffs. Yeah, definitely Berry. _Why the hell is she calling me? And, why from Q's phone?_

"No? Guess that's the problem, you don't see yourself how we see you. Why are you callin’ me?" I quip, chuckling to myself. She's such a freak. I mean, look at the little dude, how can she not see it? He's small, has a big nose, and is cute. 

_No, not cute! He isn't, nope, not cute. Just… no._

"How do you see me?"  _Son of a bitch_. She didn't just ask that. What am I supposed to say?  _Shit, think…_  Think, damn it! "Silence speaks volumes, remember, San? I don't think I want to know anyway. Listen, I just wanted to call and invite you over for supper tomorrow. If you really were checking in on me this morning, show me by coming over tomorrow night. Riley and Quinn will be there, too. I'll text you the time later. I-I hope you show up." With that, she hangs up, leaving me speechless. I don't even know what to think. 

_Does she really want me there?_  

_Why would she invite me over to come eat with her?_

_I don't get it._

_Whoa, hold up now, Riley's gonna be there?_

_Just fuckin’ great, that woman is infuriating._

 


	11. Chapter 11

Tuesday night, Santana

I drive around Rachel's block, for the second time, and as I come up to her house, there's a [new car](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6803560/9/Glee-goes-camping) in the driveway that wasn't there the first time I passed. Q's ride. My foot presses the gas and I circle around again, I just can't seem to make myself pull in. I was supposed to be here at six, on the dot, and as I go around for a fourth time, it's five past. The fifth time I go around, my eyes widen at the new car that's now parked in the full driveway.  _Holy fuckin’ shit_. It's a sleek black Lamborghini. That thing has to be Riley's.  _Wow_.

So now she’s some uppity rich girl, one probably from L.A. or somewhere equally as easy to spend a load of cash.

What a show off.

I park on the side of Rachel’s yard, far enough away from the road and turn my car off, but don't move to get out yet. Instead, I just sit here and take in a couple of deep breaths, preparing myself for whatever goes down tonight. Not that I'm scared. Another five minutes pass before I finally exit my vehicle and slowly make my way up to her front door. I'm now over ten minutes late. I reach for the door bell but hesitate and drop my hand back down.  _What the hell is wrong with me? I'm Santana Lopez, I can do anything, including facing Rachel berry._

"Don't tell me the almighty bitch is afraid of her high school verbal punching [bag](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6803560/9/Glee-goes-camping)?" I jerk around, startled at the voice coming from behind me.

I glare, hard, before turning back around to jab at the doorbell. "Don't know what the hell you're talking about." I tell Riley, jaw clenching. We haven't even gone inside yet and she's trying to start something. I didn't realize she was even still in her car, with her stupid [tinted windows](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6803560/9/Glee-goes-camping).

"Oh, no?" I can hear the smirk in her irritating voice. "So, that wasn't you driving around her block before you decided to finally park? That wasn't you who sat in Rachel's yard for over five minutes and then slowly walked to the door and proceeded to stand here, hand hovering over the door bell?" She asks from right behind me, smug, and the urge to whirl around and punch her in the throat is strong.

I curse under my breath and hit the doorbell several times.  _Where the hell are they?_  "I don't have to answer to you." I throw her a quick scowl. "What I do is none of your damn business, so how bouts you stay the hell away from me tonight? I don't like you." I huff harshly.

"And wipe that fucking smirk off your face before I decide to bring out Snix and do it for you."

All she does is chuckle, which makes me even more pissed. "You know why you don't like me? It's because I'm right, and have the balls to call you out on it. Oh, by the way, the doorbell is broken. Try knocking."

Ay dios mio! I'm about to cut this bitch. She knows nothing. "I don't like you because you think you know me and you’re all cocky about it." I reply frustrated, turning back around to the door to knock this time. I'm ready to be away from her.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black." She steps up beside me, speaking low and a hundred percent serious. "You my dear Santana are one cocky bitch, but this isn't high school. You don't run things here and you sure as hell don't scare me. This is Rachel's home and if you can't respect it or her, I will not hesitate to kick your dumb ass out myself."

I give her a last withering glare as the door finally clicks open, and then waste no time in pushing past Quinn to get inside and away from Riley.

"Where the heck have you two been? Rachel has been crying her eyes out because neither of you showed up on time! Her dads and I have been trying to calm her down, but she's locked herself in her room." Quinn hollers at us, her eyes ablaze and hands motioning towards the stairs. I grimace, sort of feelin’ bad for making her wait.

I know she's a punctual person and to make matters worse, she probably thinks I'm admitting to having ulterior motives for showing up at the hospital, by not showing up here.

But I'm here, damn it, no matter how late or how much I'm dreading this.

Not bothering to reply, I walk off, heading toward the stairs and up them until my feet land in front of Rachel's door. I roll my eyes at the huge gold painted star with 'Rachel’ written in the middle of it. Typical.

I close my eyes, take a breath, and then knock.

"Go away, daddy! I said I just wanted to be alone and I'm not hungry for the 50th time!" Rachel yells out from behind the door, her voice sounding angry, yet defeated.

I can tell she's been crying and I feel my face drop at the thought.  _Okay, Lopez, you can do this. It's just Berry, not a monster waiting to sink its teeth in you the first chance it gets._  I pep myself up before I open my mouth and speak. "It's me, Yoshi. Open the door."

"I have nothing to say to you, Santana Lopez, so just go away! You didn't show. You aren't here. Riley isn't here, no ones here, San!"

Uhh... Is she high again? "Berry, I'm outside your door talkin’ to you. Don't be such a diva. I'm what, only like... twenty minutes late? You know me. I'm one to show up fashionably late."

"And, Riley? Where is she, hmm? I bet you're only here because Quinn must have called you. You aren't here because you want to be."

As predicted, she is going to make this difficult for me. She doesn't trust either of us, and is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. She thinks I'm here because Q called and forced me over, which really isn't the case. Maybe I'll just have to fess up and tell her why I'm late.  _Ha, yeah right. Like I'm going to admit to being afraid of being here? Fat chance._

I bang on the door. "If you don't come unlock this door right now, Gremlin, I will grab a sharpie and draw pornographic pictures on your precious star." I warn. Quinn may have been the one to draw the ones in the bathroom at School, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to doodle some lewd depictions of Rachel in compromising positions.

I hear a shocked gasp through the wooden barrier and footsteps run toward me.

The door swings open and closed. She looks over the star for any damage and sighs in relief when the inspection comes up clear. She turns and glares at me, but my eyes land on her half naked body. She's standing before me in only a tank and panties. I smirk. Seems like the tables have turned and I allow my gaze to trail up her legs, over her flat stomach and to her braless breasts. Her nipples are poking through the tank. "This is a public area, Yoshi. There are people in the house and you shouldn't be wearing next to nothin’." I attempt to tease her, mocking how she said similar words to me the other night, except, I can barely keep my eyes off of her.

_Hells to the no. I am NOT attracted to Rachel Berry. Nope. Her body isn't all that great._

_Nope, not at all_.

"Why are you here?" She decides to ignore my attempt at humor, but the light flush spreading along her tan cheeks doesn't go unnoticed by me.

"Quinn didn't call me. I haven't talked to anyone outside of school today. So, why do you think I'm here?" I answer without actually answering her question.

She needs to figure it out on her own.

She crosses her arms over her chest and stares at me for a little while. "I'm hoping you're here because you want to be." She answers me, with I think, hope shining in her eyes, but she still sounds unsure on whether to believe me or not. "I asked you to come if that's why you visited me in the hospital, and if Quinn didn't call you, then I'm assuming you just proved that theory. Even if you are slightly late."

"Tell anyone I said this… and I'll make your life at school even worse. I came to see you because I was worried, like I said; I watched as that, that thing ripped your arm up. I had to make sure you weren't going to croak on us, I mean, what would Glee club be like without you? We need twelve members to qualify for Regional's. We would have had to call you back from the dead so we could at least stay in the competition." I threaten her like I would have at school, knowing it usually works on any of the loser kids. But I'm not so sure if it will work on her. She had already slipped up and told Q about our cuddling. I try to soften the threat with some humor, though, hoping to get her to smile, or laugh.

I watch as her face falls, eyes casting down to the floor. "I told you I didn't want to know what you thought of me, but now that I do, I'm not surprised. You can show yourself to the door." She whispers without emotion, pointing to the stairs.

I stand there, though, thinking over what I could have said for that reaction. "Berry… what, I, what?"  _Oh, come on!_  Damn her for turning me into a bumbling idiot. 

_What am I supposed to even say to that?_

"I want you out of my home, Santana. You obviously only wanted to be here to see if I'm going to stay in glee club. I was right about all of you only tolerating me for my winning voice. If I had died, and there was any chance of bringing me back, the only reason you would, is for my voice. What would you do after we lost or won all of the competitions? Put me back in my grave?"

"Whoa, excuse me? Am I hearing things right?" Riley, once again sneaks up on me, butting in our conversation before I get the chance to make things right. "Did I not just warn you about respecting her and her house? And here you are, already upsetting her. Is it true, that all you and your friends care about is Rachel's singing?"

I'm sick of her sticking her nose in where it's not wanted and I close the distance between us, getting all up in her face. "You need to stay the fuck out of our business. This has nothing to do with you. You have no say or right to come in here and start assuming shit, when you have _no_ idea what's going on."

"Girls, what's the problem here? I sent Riley up here to get you two for supper, not to argue." Rachel's dad, Hiram, I think his name is, stomps up the staircase and comes to interrogate us. We all stand up straight and look at him.

"Sorry, Dad. Santana was just telling me that she couldn't stay; her father called and needs her home tonight. I was upset, but we'll come down and I'll see her to the door then come join everyone else at the table." Rachel lies to him, and I have to give her credit for her acting skills, but not for her chosen lie.

Unfortunately, Hiram sees right through his daughter as he looks at both me and Riley. He knows she's lying because, sadly, my father is no longer with us. He worked closely with Rachel's other father, Leroy. Apparently, they never told their daughter about him. Why would they? We hadn't been friends then, well, we aren't now either. Hiram says nothing on the lie; instead he nods okay and gives me a look between sympathetic and apologetic.

After Rachel changes into some pajama bottoms, we all head back down stairs, but I have no intention of leaving things like this. I'm staying and Rachel and I are going to talk.  _Ugh_. She'll just have to get over it and learn to listen. Rachel starts walking towards the door, and without saying anything, I follow Hiram and Riley the bitch into the dining room. As I sit down, all eyes, except for Rachel's, who is still in the foyer, turn to me. Their facial expressions differ. Riley is glaring at me, Q is raising her brow, and Hiram is smiling.

"What are you doing? You shouldn't keep your father waiting." Rachel, finally noticing my absence from her side, comes into the kitchen, looking at me expectantly.

"I'm afraid he'll be waiting a long time. At least I hope so. I'm not ready to go out just yet." I tell Rachel, even though I know Hiram and Quinn will be the only ones who understand what I'm saying.

"That's very rude, Santana, and not to mention disrespectful to your dad. You should go now, so he won't be angry with you." Honestly appalled at me, she keeps up the lying, digging herself in deeper.

Q looks at me in utter confusion, knowing my dad has been dead for over two years now.

"Rachel, give it up honey, I know you're lying, but for what I'm not sure." Hiram shakes his head at his daughter. "You know better than to lie to us, next time if you don't want me to know what's going on, just say you were having a private conversation and I will respect it. Sit down and eat your food." He scolds her fatherly, without actually giving away how he knows she was lying. I respect him for that.

He knows that if I wanted her to know about him that I’d tell her myself.

Blushing furiously, Rachel sits down, silent and brooding. Tension fills the area as we sit there. It's uncomfortable for all of us. Luckily, Leroy comes in from the kitchen, all smiles, carrying two clear pans, holding what looks like lasagna in them. He sets them down in the middle of the table. "Let me grab the breadsticks and we'll be ready to eat." He tells us, still smiling, oblivious to the tension, or pretending not to notice. He walks back in, setting a pan of bread down, too, then sits beside his husband. "All right now, don't be shy, dig in." He encourages us to eat.

I don't have to be told twice.

While we eat, Hiram and Leroy start up a conversation with Riley, and I tune in. There's nothin’ else to do anyway. "We're from Transylvania originally, me and my two other friends, Aris and Devon." Riley answers his first question casually, but my eyebrows furrow and I blink.  _She isn't serious is she? Transylvania, seriously? No way._  Everyone looks at her like she's crazy, because come on, Transylvania?  _Isn't that where they say werewolves and vampires live? Not that there are such creatures._  "I'm kidding." She starts to laugh. "Oh man, your faces! Priceless. No, we live in Pennsylvania actually, near Hershey, PA. It's a few hundred miles from here, but with my baby, we got here in no time." I've never been anywhere like that before, going to Hershey, PA, would be a trip of a lifetime. 

_Who doesn't love loads of non stop chocolate fun?_

"Oh, I was just about to ask if you and your friends were werewolves! Where are they anyway? They could have come over, too." Daddy Berry lets loose a chuckle, finding it funny. He asks about Riley's friends as they continue to chat away.

"They're at our hotel. I'll tell them to come next time; they'll love your cooking Mr. Berry."

"None of that mister crap. Call us by our names. Any friend of Rachel's is a friend of ours. You get special privileges." Leroy corrects her, laughing lightly. "So how old are you young ladies, if you don't mind me asking? And what made you three come here to this hick town of all places?"

"I'll remember that, Hiram, thank you." Riley smiles, before answering his questions. "Aris is the oldest of us at 24, then me; I'm 22, and Devon is the baby at 21. We came down to visit someone we know, to help them move back to Pennsylvania where they belong." Riley replies without a problem, seems like she's enjoying playing twenty questions.

So, they aren't all that much older than us, not even ten years. I chance a glance at Rachel, but when my eyes meet with her resting on Quinn's shoulder, it makes me feel weird, and not in a good way. I recognize the feeling. I got it all the time when I would see Britt and Artie all lovey dovey with each other, but there's no way in hell that I'm jealous. Nu-uh. It must be the food messing me up. It's the lasagna’s fault… yeah.

After we clean up our food mess, we all go settle into the living room, sitting one by one on the wrap around couch to watch a movie or something. The last spot is beside Berry. I look around the room to find somewhere else to sit. Anywhere. There is no free space, crap. I hesitantly sit beside her, careful of her hurt arm. Speakin of… I want to know how it looks. I hate the thing that did this to her, she's going to be scarred for life now.

I can only imagine how this is affecting her mentally.

They decide on a movie, Rent. Surprisingly, it was Q who chose it, not Rachel. Leroy turns it on while Hiram shuts the lights off, and then we all give the TV our attention.

Halfway through the movie, I find my attention on Yoshi's arm again, staring at it through the glow of the TV and side table lamp, which she had us turn on. She refused to admit that it was because she's afraid of the dark right now, but we all know. Before I even realize what's happening, my fingers glide against her wrist, right above where the wrap stops. I barely touch the soft skin when she flinches and turns startled eyes to mine.

I have to look away from the fear written on her face.

"You okay, little one?" Riley, who happens to be sitting on the other side of her, asks in concern, giving me a glare in the process.

"Y-Yes. I just had a bad pain in my arm, but it's gone now." Rachel answers, stuttering and lying yet again, this time though, the way she said it makes me hurt.

I guess I am a pain in her arm.

This isn't going to work; I need to get out of here, but before I can even attempt to move, I feel Rachel's arm slide against my thigh. She lets out a hiss as it rubs on my jeans, and goes to move it back. I let her for the moment. "Q, throw me that pillow." I order her, holding out my hand for it.

She arches a brow at me. "You mean the one I'm using? No way, find another one." She asks sarcastically, denying me.

I glare. "It's for Berry. Hand it over." I try again, knowing she'll give it to me for her new buddy.

"Oh, well, why didn't you just say so? Here, Rach. I'll go find another." Q gives in immediately, pulling it from behind her head and tossing it over.

I snatch it from the air.

"That was rude, Santana." Rachel shakes her head at me, not taking the offered pillow. "I didn't even ask for the pillow.

I frown at her ungratefulness. I had done something nice for the gremlin and she throws it back at me. "But, your arm…" I purse my lips and firm my voice. "You need to prop it up on something soft." I tell her knowingly, seeing how much her arm is bothering her.

Instead of waiting on a reply, I gently lift her arm for her, and set the pillow under it.

"You, I, thank you?" She stutters out a response, obviously surprised that I'm doing this for her.

"Was that a question?" I ask her teasingly, settling back into my spot.

"No, sorry. I meant thank you. You didn't have to do that." She says shyly, looking away.  _Cute._

_No, we've been over this! Not cute!_

"Uh… yeah sure. No problem." I mumble out and curse under my breath.

She can't keep affecting my talking skills like this.

I'm supposed to be smooth.

Towards the end of the movie, I gaze back down to her arm, itching to touch it.  _Wait, I mean look at it, why would I want to risk touching it again?_ I glance around the room. Her dads are asleep and Q and Ms Mcbitchy are watching the ending of the movie. Rachel is, too, her eyes glued to the TV. I lift my hand some and inch it toward Berry's, my fingers slowly reaching her wrist, the very same spot as before.

"That was good. It was my first time watching it." I jerk my hand back when Riley makes a comment about the movie, heart racing at the thought of what I was about to do. She probably would have slapped me this time.

"Glad you liked it." Q smiles up at her from where her head is resting in Riley's lap. "I don't like many musicals, not as much the Munchkin over there, but I like a few."

 _Damn, I feel like a fourth wheel. Whatever, like I really need them? Hell no. I gots myself and that's all I need._ "Well this has been nice or whatever, but I'm about to bounce. We have school tomorrow." I announce, standing up and stretching with a yawn.

"I'll walk you out." Rachel tells me as she gets up, too, catching my yawn for herself, which just makes more go around the room until everyone has had at least two.

Our laughs spread just as easily.

"Night, S, see you at school, bright and early." Quinn lazily bids me goodnight.

"Yeah, bright and early. Woo hoo." I deadpan my cheer and roll my eyes, tired of having to get up so damn early for cheerleading practice. "G'night, Q."

She snickers as I finally follow Rachel to the front door.

"Goodnight, Santana." She whispers low, but I catch it.

"Night, Yoshi." I smile softly while scuffing my toe against the porch. "Take it easy or whatever." She gives me a tiny smile and then turns around to go back inside, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

 

 

Present, Riley

"I really need to go, too, I guess. Thanks for having us over, Rachel." Quinn sits up from my lap and announces tiredly. I pout at her for moving, but she doesn't notice.

"Do, um, do you maybe think you could possibly… stay the night?" Rachel shyly and hesitantly asks us both, looking between us with a hopeful expression. "At least one of you. I'm still a little freaked out and would rather not be alone tonight."

How could anyone say no to that face?

"I have an extra uniform in my car I can use for tomorrow. I'll stay if it's okay with your dads." Quinn smiles, apparently not being able to say no either.

"I'll stay, too, it’s not like I have anywhere better to be." I tell her teasingly, nudging her good arm lightly.

"Thank you. I appreciate it. If you two don't mind; I'm ready to go lie down now." Smiling, she slips by us.

We follow her up and she lends us something to sleep in, though I opt for just a t-shirt, being more comfortable the fewer clothes I have on. Quinn changes into sweats and a tank top, much like what Rachel is wearing. When Rachel steps out of the bathroom she's smelling minty fresh. Quinn goes next and when she is done, I take my turn. When I come out, they are already in bed and under the covers. I pad over and take the spot beside Quinn. Rachel is already passed out.

"Night, Riley." Quinn whispers so as to not wake her.

"Goodnight, Quinn." I smile, scooting closer to her. She smiles back and we stare at each other for a few moments. Her eyes finally close and mine follow not too long after.

Tonight was a cakewalk compared to what tomorrow is going to bring. I have to tell Rachel she's going to become furry on the next full moon and I am not looking forward to that. I sigh and try to blank any thoughts from my head, letting the Sandman take me instead.


	12. Chapter 12

Wednesday morning, Riley

I'm woken by something rubbing against me, and when it happens again, I realize its Quinn's legs sliding against mine as she plasters herself to the front of my body. Her head tucks under my chin and I wrap my arm securely around her back.

"Santana stole my Tony award!" Rachel hollers out, bolting up in bed after the alarm blares to life, startling the hell out of both Quinn and me. We look at each other then turn enough to see Rachel clearly; she blinks several times, obviously discombobulated.

"Rach?" I call out softly to get her attention; she turns her head our way.

"Why did Santana steal your Tony award?" Quinn asks her as we try not to laugh.

"What? I-I don't know… I'm sorry, I'm confused…" Rachel shakes her head to clear it.

"You were dreaming, little one. When the alarm went off, you bolted up and yelled that Santana stole your Tony award." I explain to her with a chuckle, hoping she can fill in the blanks.

"Oh. That's right, I dreamed that we were together, and she came to the award show to support me. I won of course, and when we got home, we celebrated by making love for the very first time, and let me tell you that it was well worth the wait… She had me orgasm before we even had our-"

"Whoa, Berry, we don't need [the details](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6803560/10/Glee-goes-camping) of your sex dreams!" Quinn stops her mid story, slapping a hand over Rachel’s mouth.

I pout and grab Quinn's hand, removing it. "No, please continue. I don't mind, really, go on…"

"Right, sorry, I'm sure you two don't want to hear the rest of that. You know, if Santana is half as good as she was in my dream, then it is no wonder why she has so many sex partners. If she could just [apply](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6803560/10/Glee-goes-camping) that to an actual relationship, she would be so much happier in life. Now, back to the point of my dream. The next morning I found myself alone, I got out of bed and she was just… _gone._ All her things she left over at my apartment and most important of all, My Tony award. You can imagine my horror. She left me heartbroken, but the only thing I could process was that my Tony was gone. I didn't want to believe she had left me." She finishes the dream, unfortunately skipping over the best parts.

Quinn totally ruined that for me, she is _so_ not any fun.

So, even in Rachel's dreams, she cannot escape the pain Santana causes her on an almost daily basis.

That is pretty screwed up if you ask me.

"You have these dreams often, munchkin, about Santana and you together?" Quinn questions her curiously, smirking.

"N-no! That was the first one, but enough about me, you need to get ready for school. Cheerio's practice today at 6:15am. You'd better get going lest you incur the wrath of coach Sylvester." Rachel quickly denies, shaking her head and changing the subject, as a blush covers her pretty face. I think she's lying, but hopefully the other dreams she has had were more pleasant, ones without Santana breaking her heart.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for reminding me. I'll come tell you bye before I leave." Quinn mumbles as she extracts herself from me, having been practically in my lap from stopping Rachel from talking earlier.

She's blushing and not making eye contact with either of us.

I wish she didn't have to go to school; it was nice spending time with her. But, it also reminds me that she is underage, not that anything would ever happen, she could be straight, be in a relationship or maybe she isn't even looking for one. Either way, it's not happening. The room goes silent as Rachel and I lie back down, neither one of us ready to get up yet.

"Hey, Rach?" Her eyes open and she looks at me questioningly.

"Yes, Riley?"

"How old were you in your dream to have won a Tony award?" I ask her curiously, remembering back when she was revealing the dream to us, something sticking out the most.

"The award show was the day right after my twenty fifth birthday. It had to have been one of the most amazing birthdays I would ever have, I'm sure." Her answer confirms my suspicions, making me giggle out.

"What is so funny?" She asks me with a bewildered expression, a slight pout adorning her lips.

"Rachel, are you waiting that long in real life?" I question her, trying to be serious, since the matter really isn't anything to laugh about.

"Well, I'm just trying to be realistic; I would love to win before twenty five, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high." She replies innocently, misinterpreting my question.

She really is an adorable little thing.

Maybe it's a good thing she did; I wouldn't have wanted to overstep my bounds. We haven't known each other that long. But really, twenty five? That is a long time without full on sex, she is only sixteen, that's freakin' nine years from now! I have to give her mad respect for that, though, if she and Santana ever really did get together, I don't think she will be able to make it that long. That is if Santana ever got her shit together and started treating Rachel like she deserves.

"Hm, you’re right. But I don't doubt you will win, regardless of your age." I tell her, dropping the real question.

She smiles shyly, blushing again.

We close our eyes and the room once again falls silent.

Voices bring me out of sleep, I look over to Rachel, seeing Quinn leaning down, talking to her. "I'll see you later, just let me know when you feel like having me back. We um, we need to talk still. But, whenever you're up for it. Try and have a good day, okay?"

"We do need to talk, Quinn, you have me really confused by the 180 turn around and I'm very wary of you. However, I can't deny that you have been anything but nice to me since the camping trip. I will call you soon; you have a good day as well." I listen in on Rachel's reply, smiling at how things are going. They have hope yet.

"I'm sorry for confusing you; I've been confusing myself with how I feel about things for a while now. Call me anytime." Quinn tells her with a pained expression, then leans up and looks over at me.

"I'll walk you out." I let her know as I get up off the bed, she nods. We walk downstairs and to the front door in silence, I follow her out the door and to her car.

She eyes my car intensely.

"You like?" I ask her with a smirk, knowing the answer is yes.

"That, _wow_ , I've never seen one of those in real life. Is it yours?" She replies in wonder, just about drooling on the cement.

"Oh yes, all mine. Want me to give you a ride sometime?" Oh yes, she can ride me anytime. She would look so damn hot in that car. And, the expression on people's faces when Quinn, the head cheerleader, gets out of my sweet ride will be priceless.

I can see Santana now… She would be pissed.

"Yes please. Uh so, I have to go, I'll see you later?" She gives me a shy smile.

"You will. Give me a call or text and we'll hook up sometime." I step into her space and wrap my arms around her in a much needed hug.

She tentatively hugs me back, but relaxes as I hold her tighter and lay my head against hers. So, yeah, I'm just going to have to keep reminding myself that she is a minor. No big deal. I can do this. Damn, her hair smells good.

"Riley, I have to go. I really can't risk being late, Coach is already on my ass for skipping the other morning to bring Rachel home." She pulls away, though I can tell by the miniscule pause before she lets completely go that she didn’t really want to move.

Opening her door, she slides into the front seat.

I try not to pout outwardly. "Fine, I'll let you get going then." I tell her reluctantly, pouting anyway. She gives me a half smile before shutting the door, and then she drives off, leaving me here feeling oddly empty.

Yeah, this isn't going to be so easy after all.

* * *

 

6:11PM, Rachel

After a very taxing day, having had to go get another dreaded rabies shot this afternoon, my dads and I are sitting on our couch, about to watch a movie. Riley left before we are to eat dinner, to go gather some clothes and her friends. My dads have Ok'ed it for them to spend the night tonight. They love that I seem to have friends, so they don't mind if any of them come over, plus no school until next Monday. Quinn is supposed to bring me my schoolwork tomorrow so I can catch up. I yawn and rest my head on daddy's shoulder, closing my eyes for a quick nap.

I'm way too tired for a movie right now.

"Rachel? Honey wake up, the food is ready." I groan and frown at the interruption to my well-deserved nap, Dad is standing over me, hand on my back.

"Carry me? I'm so tired, Dad." I Joke and admit, reclosing my eyes.

"All right, you sleep; I'll try again in a little while, okay?" He whispers sadly, and I feel him kiss my temple.

I let myself drift back off.

"Uh… what is she doing?"

"What does it look like? It's obvious what's happening."

"Damn, whoever she's dreaming about is lucky." I groan out at the abrupt wake up call, voices filtering into my dreamscape. I'm not sure if I'm happy they woke me or disappointed. My heart is telling me to go for the first option while my panties are saying the other. How can one become so wet without actual stimulation?

Damn dream Santana.

"Devon, Air, leave the munchkin alone, she's waking up." Riley scolds her friends for bothering me, but her voice sounds like she is about to laugh.

Why does everyone laugh at me while I sleep? Am I that funny looking?

"No, not at all, little one, you’re just adorable is all. Listen, when your dads come back in here, I need, we need to talk to you." She replies sheepishly, to a question I didn't even mean to ask aloud, but when her voice turns serious all of a sudden, I sit up and look at her in worry.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask them, eyes searching their faces for clues as to why they need to talk to us.

"Well, no, but it honestly depends on how you take the news, whether you see it as something wrong or not. It's really important, and I'm sorry for scaring you like this." Riley answers cryptically, worrying me more.

What does she mean? I'm confused.

"I don't know what to say to that. You have me awfully confused and worried, Riley. Did, did I do something?" I just don't understand… My fathers need to come in here, _quick_.

"Wait, before you answer that, I wanted to tell you how thankful I am that you saved my life. If you weren't there I would most likely be dead. But here I am and it's because of you." I add in hurriedly before they can reply to my first sentence.

Riley's eyes become misty; she closes them and turns away.

"No, you didn't do anything. Hiram, Leroy, if you would sit down, I need to talk to you three." She tells me softly, then seeing my dads, directs them beside me.

I keep my eyes on her anxiously.

"Sure, is everything okay?" Daddy replies and they both sit down, giving them their attention.

"I'm not really sure how to start this off. Either way I'm going to come off sounding crazy, but I need you to just stay there and listen, because what I'm about to tell you isn't a joke, or me messing with you." She closes her eyes again and slides her hand through her hair, seemingly at a loss.

"You certainly have our undivided attention. Please just tell us what it is, you’re really scaring me, Riley." I let her know, frowning and becoming more anxious as time passes.

"I'm sorry, I just, I've never had to do this. Is there any chance any of you believe in the supernatural? That would make this a little easier." Stammering out a response, she chuckles nervously, though to me it also sounds a bit rueful.

What kind of question is that? The supernatural?

"Supernatural? Like ghosts?" My dad asks, laughing disbelievingly.

I don't blame him.

"That's a start. If you were to believe in ghosts, then maybe you could believe in other things. Any of you have an encounter with one before? A ghost or spirit?"

"I'm not understanding, why you would even ask these things?" After a minute of complete silence, daddy asks what the three of us are thinking.

"I was trying to ease into what I really needed to tell you, but I see that isn't happening. What if I said that the things you see on TV that go bump in the night are real, like magic and-"

"And what, vampires and demons? Those things aren't real, Riley; please don't tell me that you believe in them?" I interrupt her crazy talk, extremely weirded out now.

I didn't know she was like this...

"I do. Some things are very real, though most unlike the ones depicted in movies. Vampires, magic-"

"I'm sorry, Riley, but if you continue to feed us this non sense, I'm going to have to ask you to leave our home." Daddy counters her, holding up his hand.

Riley shakes her head no. "No, I can't do that. I'm telling you all of this because of Rachel. Mr. Berry, that wolf that attacked her, he wasn't pure wolf. It, he was a werewolf." She looks at him then at me as she reveals what she really wanted to say.

I frown, mind on overload. How could I have not seen that she was this crazy? She didn't give off any hints, and she has been nothing but kind and helpful the whole time we've known her, even taking up for me when Santana’s being, well, Santana.

"This is not at all funny, young lady. I want you and your friends to leave; you are obviously in some fantasy world that is far from real and need very serious help. Because, what you're telling us cannot possibly be real. Our daughter wasn't bit by a damn werewolf. That would mean she would turn into one, and that, that isn't happening." Tone calm, yet edgy, Daddy stands up to his full height, looking down on her.

I shake my head as tears fill my eyes, not believing anything Riley has told us. There is just no way that that thing was a werewolf. The things coming out of her mouth are insane, and daddy is right, she needs _serious_ help.

"Rachel, I swear to you on my grandmother's grave that I am telling you the truth. I’m sorry that this is happening, but it is; a werewolf bit you. The closer the full moon, the more changes your body will go through, and on the night of, you will turn completely into a werewolf. I have to tell you this; I had to, even though I know how insane it sounds. Rachel will need me to help her through this-"

"That is enough! You really are deranged! You’re _sick_. Get. Out. I don't want you anywhere near me, do you understand?" I shoot off the couch and dare invade her space, having had enough of this complete and utter bullshit.

I take a step back when tears fall down her cheeks.

"I can't do that, Rachel. Please, you are going to need me, us. I'm not lying; let us prove to you that what I'm saying is truth."

"How on earth are you going to prove that our daughter will turn into one of those things? You're delusional and I regret ever having you in our house and around my baby." Dad joins us standing up, his voice hard. But Riley doesn't take her eyes off me; she lays a hand on my shoulder, making me tense up.

"Don't you dare touch her! You need to leave right now!" Daddy storms over.

Riley swivels her head around and growls at him, making us both startle. He backs up, eyes wide. She looks back at me.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Rachel, or your dads. I need you to believe me, this is really serious. Do you remember the three wolves' you ran into in the woods? That was me, Aris, and Devon." She tells me softly, hand touching my cheek. I close my eyes, remembering them clearly, but there is no way that they were these three girls.

"No, they couldn't be you. You must have been already in the woods that night, overhearing us." I protest, denying it even though something about the three best friends now seems more familiar.

"I promise you it was us. Sam named Devon storm, you named Aris cloud, and Quinn named me shadow. We led you all back to your tents, and you hugged us goodnight. The next night, when we all went to sleep, Santana came to my tent looking for you, in her underwear. I slipped up and made the comment about her getting into the magic tea. But, no one ever told me about it and she and Quinn were confused on how I knew. We watched as those two idiots got you high as hell, in wolf form. Trust me, if I could have helped you that night in human form I would have, but we all would have been running around naked."

"Shut up, just shut up! None of this is real, you're wrong. You were all there before us, and not as werewolves', that isn't possible, Riley!" I jerk away from her in a rage, not willing to believe her craziness. She sighs and rubs her face roughly.

"Let us prove it; we need for you to believe us. You have to, because you can't go through this alone, without one of us to help you." Aris steps up, taking over.

She rubs Riley's back as if to comfort her, when I'm the one who needs comfort; I need a damn anxiety pill. I look at Riley coolly, who is looking at me already.

" _Prove it_."

"Okay, I will. I'm going to change right in front of you, so that you will believe us." Aris replies to me instead, looking at me then at my dads'.

"You aren't serious? You honestly believe that you can turn into a werewolf? This isn't- _fine_ , you know what, I'll humor you, go ahead then...” Daddy speaks up, laughing in disbelief.

He gives Aris the O.K., which I think is simply ridiculous. She cannot possibly turn into one of those creatures!

"I will, but once you learn that we're real, you are going to be scared of me, and I want you to know that I will not hurt any of you, especially Rachel. But, in return, I'm going to need you not to scream or try to hurt us, not that you could… However, we don't need any unneeded attention. We have to be careful on who we reveal ourselves to. Also, the only reason we are even telling you two, is because Rachel is a minor. She will need you both. Now, stand back."

We, in a daze all stand back, in fact, I find myself walking backwards until the back of my legs hit the couch, and I plop down onto it. Dad rolls his eyes but complies and stands to the side, looking at them as if they all belong in an institute. Daddy is glaring at them, arms crossed. Riley comes to stand beside me, and Devon stays where she is. Aris is in the middle of our huge living room; she looks over at us and takes a deep breath.

We wait for something to happen.

My eyes widen and I gasp out, scrambling off the couch as Aris's body contorts.

Riley catches me and gathers me into her arms. "It's okay, don't panic, she won't hurt you. I've got you, little one." She whispers in my ear, trying to soothe me.

I whimper when Aris turns to us, in full wolf form.

"Riley?"

"I'm right here." She kisses my head, holding me snuggly.

"I-I don't understand." I stutter as black dots swarm my vision, and shake my head to clear them, but it makes me dizzy and the last thing I see is a large nose nudging my hand.

My world goes dark.


	13. Chapter 13

My eyes snap open; I look around, panicked and confused.

"We're right here, baby girl. You’re okay." Daddy sits beside me on the couch.

Blinking my eyes, I let out a relieved laugh. "Daddy, I just had the craziest dream."

"Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry, but you weren't dreaming-"

"No, no, I was! I had a nightmare, it had to have been!" I interrupt him, flying up off the couch.

"As much as I wish this was a nightmare, it isn't. I'm not sure how to process this, but we saw with our own eyes how she just…transformed. We could say it was some kind of trick, or magic, but you know it's not. Your dad sent them out of the room to give you space, the girl has not yet tried to hurt any of us. Do, do you want to see her?" Shaking his head, he tells me what I already know is true.

I just don't want to believe it. How can I?

"How can you believe this? It has to be some trick, like you said. Werewolves aren't real!" I holler at him, frustrated and a little more than angry.

"I know this is hard to believe, Rachel, but this _is_ real. You see her? She is real; you know she is the same wolf you saw in the woods. You named her." Riley comes in and over, and my eyes widen as the white wolf follows.

They both stop in front of me.

I back up, trying to get away. "No, this is not happening, I-I can't turn into that!"

"Rach, look at me." Against my better judgment, I do. "I'm sorry, I really am. Trust me, I know this is insane, but I promise you that you will be changing on the next full moon, which is happening on Halloween. Ironically…" Riley not only wants me to believe I’m going to be a werewolf, but that I'm going to turn on Halloween...

How cliché is that?

My eyes fall back on the wolf, the wolf that really looks like the one in the woods; she is even whiter in the light. Holy Mary mother of God, she-it's cloud, she _is_ the wolf from the woods! It's Aris; they have the same eyes, except they are darker now. Before I even realize I’ve moved, I find myself kneeling down in front of her, hand stretched out toward her large head. "How? How is this possible?" I whisper as my fingers touch her fur softly.

"I’m not sure anyone alive knows the true story of our creation, so I can't answer that for you. However, we have plenty of other answers; I know you and your dads want to know what's going to happen. If you want some time to try to process this, we can leave you alone tonight and come back to explain more. As long as it is soon, because Halloween will come quickly, well, it may come slow for you since you're the one this is happening to. For us, though, it won't. You need to be prepared." Riley kneels beside us, talking lightly, with one hand rubbing my back soothingly and the other joining mine on cloud's head.

She slides it across until she reaches mine, letting hers rest there.

"Give me time before you tell us anything else, I'm already having problems wrapping my head around this. I'll call you? I think I'm going to go lie down, my arm hurts and I am just _so_ tired." I pull my hand away uncomfortably, not sure how to feel at this point.

She nods and looks away. "If you don't call soon, I will not hesitate to call you, or come over if I can't get in touch with you. Don't wait too long, okay? You need us for this." She looks back at me, eyes filled with more unshed tears.

"Okay." Is all I say before getting up and walking out of the room.

I head upstairs and into mine, shutting the door softly behind me.

* * *

 

Friday afternoon, Oct 20th, Quinn.

San, Britt, and I are the only ones left in the locker room after a hard practice; B and I are getting dressed as Santana finishes up her shower.

"Hey, Q, how is Rachel doing? Does she need any of my duckie band-aids for her arm?" Britt asks from beside me, concern in her voice.

The truth is that I haven't seen or talked to Rachel since Wednesday morning, I was hoping she would call me so we could talk, but B doesn't need to know that… “She’s doing better, her arm is healing right, so I don't think she needs any band-aids, though she probably wouldn't mind if you went to visit her. Do you want to go see her?"

"It's weird not having her at school talking our heads off and taking all the solos. Will you take me?" She pouts, making me smile.

Before I can answer, though, my phone beeps from within my locker, and I dig it out.

-Meet me outside when you're done. I'm here to give you that ride. ;) ~ Riley

Oh, damn, really? Just thinking about being in that car with her, is-is shit, something I shouldn't be feeling. Shaking my head of the thought, I text back.

-And what if I already have plans? Where do you plan on taking me? ~ Q

\- So? Be spontaneous, break whatever you have going on and I'll take you wherever you want. ~ Riley

A smile breaks out on my face at that. She seems like she could be fun, wait, I mean it seems like we could have fun together. In her car, alone. _No, get that picture out of your head, Quinn! We good little Christian girls aren’t supposed to think like that._

-Fine, you had me at ride. Be out in a few. ~ Q

-Great, can't wait. ~ Riley

"Geez, Q, who's got you all smiley and shit?" I snap my head up at Santana's voice, and then stuff my phone in my pocket.

She's wrapped in only a towel.

I can't deny that she has a beautiful body, in fact, I won't deny it. She was my first and only girl crush in sophomore year, when I started to notice her more during shower time. However, that went away faster than I could even think about acting on it, for a couple of different reasons. One, Christian upbringing. That's a hell no in my family's eyes. Two, she is as much of a bitch as I am, so, it's kind of a turn off.

Hell, I would be turned off even of myself for that same reason. And now, there's these same feelings again, just with someone else. "Hello… earth to Quinn. Snap out of it!" I jump back from the sudden hand in my face, and turn blinking eyes on a now dressed Santana.

"Sorry, uh, can you take B to go see Rachel? I have to go, something came up." I grab my bag and start to walk out in a hurry, ready to see Riley.

"What? No! You can't spring that up on me! I have places to be and people to take advantage of. Hey, don't you walk away from me when I'm talkin' to you!" Affronted, she storms after me. I ignore her until we reach Riley's car.

"Oh, something came up, huh? Riight, like going off with that bitch is more important than taking Britts to go see Berry." She scoffs, recognizing Riley's car instantly.

And if her car wasn't clue enough, then Riley leaning up against it wearing tan cargo pants, a black tank top with a yellow rubber duck in a spiked collar, - showing off her very toned arms - and black combat boots, should be.

Riley's smile drops off her face and is replaced with hurt and anger.

"That car is hot; it makes me want to have sex." Brittany comments quietly, rubbing along the hood. I blush.

What is with her, S, and Rachel not having a filter?

At least she lightened the mood. Riley looks amused now and she chuckles, which makes me laugh, too. "Yeah, well, you're gonna have to wait your turn, B. Seems like Quinn is first in line. Lets just get out of here, too much of Riley's face is going to make me puke all over her precious car." Santana quips coolly, glaring at the both of us, then grabs Brittany's hand and storms off. Hey! What does she mean I'm first in line?

Whatever, she's just trying to rile me up.

"Sorry about her, she's a bitch to everyone." I look at Riley and tell her, feeling bad that Santana is so mean to her.

No one is safe.

Well, except Britt of course.

"Don't apologize for her; she needs to learn how to do that herself. Come on, hop in." She replies with a shrug, acting like it doesn't bother her, but I can tell that it does.

I walk around to the passenger side and go to pull the door open, but there isn't a handle, that I can see.

"Uh, Riley? How do you get in this thing?" Scrunching my eyebrows together, I search for a way in. I jump, startled when a hand comes into view, touching the door. She chuckles in my ear, body pressing half into my back, and my eyes close of their own accord.

"Look." They pop back open when she speaks, I look where her hand is, she pushes on the indentation that's above the key hole and before you reach the window, it pops up then she takes hold of it and pulls. The car door slowly opens upward, I am now pretty sure that I'm in love with this car. I turn my head and look at her, which puts our faces way to close together, damn her and her eyes. I quickly look away and get into the car, she closes my door and seconds later gets in on her side. "Where to, Blondie? Are you hungry?" She starts up the car, it revs up and she drives away without waiting on a reply.

Xxxxx

6:22PM, Santana

"Are you taking me to Rachel's house, S?"

I groan from the driver's seat of my car, haven forgotten all about that.

_Damn it._

"I hadn't planned on it, why?" I grumble out and fiddle with the radio.

"She's hurt; I want to go help her feel better. Q said she would take me, but she went off to have sex instead, so now you have to take me." She explains innocently and gives me the job instead, I groan again.

Then after realizing what she said about Quinn, I have to laugh. I was totally jokin' when I said that, there is no way Q bats for the other team, and even if she did, she could do way better than Riley. "Okay, B, I'll take you to go see the gremlin." I give in reluctantly; never have been able to say no to her.

But I guess secretly, I'm wondering if Berry is doin' any better, too.

"What's a gremlin? I'd rather go see Rachel. Oh, and we need to go buy a get well present for her!" She asks, confused, then perks up and claps excitedly.

I groan for a third time.

I park with a huff at Wal-Mart; no other store was good enough to buy Berry a get well present, so says the almighty B. Not that there’s many choices in this dump town. The mall could have worked, I suppose, but I’m honestly relieved Britt didn’t think to go there; I don’t feel like driving that far out for a gift. Really, though, I don’t feel like being there for hours while Brittany looks in all the stores to find said gift.  

We walk inside, pinkies linked like we always used to do. It feels nice to have it back, but not as nice as before. Not the same somehow. I haven't been getting the fuzzy feelings as I used to when we were together, and I'm slowly learning to deal with the loss. I care about B and I always will, but our time has ended.

 So as long as she is happy, though, I'm not as sad.

"She likes animal's right? We can get her stuffed animals and some flowers to make her bedside look pretty!" She drags me away, still excited. "You pick one out and I'll do the same, and then we can go find her flowers."

"No, that’s okay. You pick her out something from the both of us." I draw the line at actually helping, and no way am I spending a fortune on this shit for yoshi.

I can't believe I'm going to spend _any_ money on her.

"We both should get her something, San; it will make her extra happy. You go over there and look while I find one over here." She doesn't let me get away with it, and I have no choice but to comply. An upset Brittany will ruin the rest of your day until you give in to what she wants or you apologize for what you did to upset her in the first place.

I just nod curtly and go where she pointed. Browsing around at the different animals, I see nothing of interest on this side. Walking back over to Britt's side, I look there, eyes falling on a familiar green creature; I grab it without thought and turn to Brittany. She smiles and shows me what she found; a cute, yellow fuzzy duckling is sitting in the palm of her hand.

I smile back and shake my head, typical B.

We finally arrive at the Berry residence at seven o’ clock. Britt bolts out of the car as soon as it is off, and I follow after her. She attempts to ring the doorbell several times "It's broken, knock on the door." I let her know then find myself knocking on it instead.

Waiting almost impatiently, it opens several seconds later, revealing Rachel's father, Leroy.

"Hello girls, what can I do you for?"

"Oh, you don't have to pay for my sexual services. I'm not a prostitute, Mr. Berry. Aren’t you gay, though?" Brittany furrows her eyebrows at him in confusion.

"Uh, is Rachel home? We c-came to see her." I quickly change the subject, blushing madly.

He looks at B oddly, then at me, eyes questioning. I shrug sheepishly, hoping he won't say anything on Brittany's misinterpreted answer. He doesn't. We are led inside with our two small gift bags and vase of different flowers she had us pick out. She had put them in it on the way over.

All it needs is water.

"Last I checked she was sleeping in her bed; she has been very tired lately. But, go on up, she might be happy for some visitors. Don't start anything, though, Ms. Lopez, I know all about you, young lady." Leroy lets us know, warning me with a glare.

I flinch under his hard gaze and blush, again.

"I-I won't… Um, we're just gonna go up…" I reply like a scared little bitch, running away up the stairs, B hot on my trail. I knock softly on the door, trying to get as far away from her daddy as I can without havin' to go back outside.

When no answer comes, I open it slowly and peek in; it's dark with only the glow of her TV shining. She's asleep on her back, left arm propped up on a pillow. I shut the door back and we walk over, setting down the crap we got. A gasp emits from my mouth as I see her damaged arm, uncovered, for the first time, the TV giving enough light to be able to tell that it's seriously messed up. I reach out and almost, almost touch it, but stop midway.

I don't want to hurt her or scare her awake.

"W-wake up, Yoshi… I brought Britts here to come see your injured ass." My voice cracks at first, but I clinch my jaw, gritting the rest out through bitch mode.

"Her ass is injured too? I want to see it."

"No, B, her ass is fine. Berry wake up, we aren't here to talk to ourselves." I scowl and try to wake her again, this time sliding my hand under the sheet and her shirt, tickling her side.

"Mmm… that feels good." She moans, and it is then that I remember she isn't ticklish.

Yeah, I totally forgot…

She sits up suddenly, knocking her head into mine.

"Ow, son of a bitch!"

"Ouch! San?" We both holler out in pain, holding onto our foreheads.

"Ouchie. Are you two okay?" Britt questions us worriedly, sitting on the bed right beside me, where I have plopped myself in front of Rachel.

"Brittany? What are you both doing here in my house, in my room?" Rachel asks us in confusion, looking back and forth between us.

"We came to see you, silly! Your arm looks like it hurts…" B answers for us, looking down at Berry's arm that is now resting in her lap. She goes to touch it, but Rachel notices and pulls it out of reach, cradling it protectively.

"Yes, Brittany, it hurts a lot, and while I thank you for coming over to see me, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I am quite tired tonight and wasn't expecting your visit." Rachel replies, looking at me the entire time while hiding her maimed arm with the sheet.

We stare at each other, and as we do, I pull the sheet away. She whimpers and stretches for it, but I throw it towards the end of the bed. "You don't need to hide your arm, Yoshi. B could you cut on the lamp for me?" I tell her with a surprisingly gentle voice, and then request of Brittany, never taking my eyes off of Rachel, who is back to cradling her arm and avoiding eye contact.

When the extra light shines on us, I reach for Rachel's arm, like B had done. "Let me see."

"San, please, just leave me alone; I'm not in the mood for your insults." She denies me, again holding it out of reach. I guess I deserve her mistrust, I haven't given her reason to trust me, but it makes me feel bad which is rare for me.

"Ber-Rachel, I'm not here to insult you and I'm not here to hurt you, so just give me your arm and let me look at it." I try reassuring her in the best un-scary voice I can manage, without coming off sounding like a complete softy. She looks at me with wide eyes, and I roll mine; apparently I managed to scare her anyway.

I’m probably weirding her out...

When I tentatively touch her hand, she lets me, so I gently pull it toward me for a better look at her arm. I inspect both sides, eyeing the deep teeth marks and the scar from being stitched up. Fingers brushing in-between her marred skin, her arm twitches like she's about to pull away, but I hold her hand snuggly to keep her from escaping my grasp.

"San?" Berry needs to stop callin' me that; it's making me feel funny.

I finally let her arm go, done with my inspection.

Her lips and chin tremble and she looks away.

"Rachel, don't do that… I'm not equipped to handle crying girls." I tell her uncomfortably, moving to get off the bed, But B, who I forgot was even here… thrusts one of the gift bags in my lap before I can get up.

"Don't worry, S, give her the present you got for her and it’ll make everything better." She tells me helpfully and bounces on her feet. Rachel looks at her, and then blinks at me, surprise written on her tear streaked face.

"You bought me something?" She asks in a disbelieving whisper.

"Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head. Britt made me do it; she got you something, too." Her face drops a fraction, but then she glances at the bag.

I grab and hand it over, knowing it's what she wants.

"It isn't going to, like, attack me is it?" She asks warily, peering into it.

I sigh, knowing I deserve that, too.

"Nope, we promise. Open it, Rachie!" Brittany answers, shaking her head in the negative, then orders her excitedly.

Rachel hesitantly reaches in, first pulling out the paper tissue B had us get as well, then sets it aside and goes back in, grabbing the animal inside.

She blinks up at me, a slow smile breaking out. "Yoshi?"

"Yeah, it's a mini you. Like it?" I reply nonchalantly, shrugging. I can't help the small, satisfied grin that escapes me when she smiles wider and nods affirmatively.

"Yay! My turn, here." B claps and sets her bag on berry's lap, replacing mine. She smiles at Brittany and doesn't hesitate this time to grab inside.

When she pulls out the little duckling, her smile widens yet again. "I can't believe you two did this for me. I love them both, thank you." She tells us softly, happy, yet being all shy and shit about it. It's kind of cute.

Aw, damn it; I've got to stop that!

_Shit’s not cool, Lopez, Rachel berry is not cute._

_Except, she kind of is._

"You're welcome! I'm glad you like them, we picked them out ourselves. We also got you these for your nightstand, aren't they pretty?" Brittany replies happily and shows her the vase of assorted flowers.

Rachel again looks struck dumb, but takes it with a smile and another thank you.

"Well, this has been interesting and all, but we should head out. It's Friday, I'm sure puck is throwin' a party." I tell her as I finally get off the bed, stretching my over worked muscles in the process.

"Oh, you're leaving already?" She asks me, looking down and playing with the duckie's yellow fur.

"I don't think puck's having a party tonight, S, I remember him saying something about going out of town with his mom this weekend." Brittany counters my excuse to get out of here.

"Oh. He didn’t mention cancelling. Whatever." I lie, knowing good and well he wasn't going to be here this weekend.

"Hmm... do you maybe want to stay then? If, if you want… I haven't had dinner yet; you could come downstairs and join me?" I sigh inwardly in what I think is relief at her shy question, because now I have an excuse to stay.

I sure as hell wouldn't have asked to.

"Can we? I'm hungry, too, and Rachel looks lonely. We should stay." Britt gangs up on me with her, both of them looking at me hopeful.

"Okay, okay. Just stop with the damn puppy dog faces."  I roll my eyes, and give in instantly. Like I said, I can't say no to B, it has nothing to do with how Rachel is looking at me the same way.

Yeah, totally not it.

She smiles at me as if I just brought her the damn moon and stars. Raising my brow at her, the smile falters slightly, and she looks away, setting her new stuffed animals aside.

As she gets up off the bed, my eyes travel the newly exposed skin, landing on her underwear-covered ass. I have to look quickly away when she turns back to us while slipping on some sweats."Ready?"  

We nod, following her out and downstairs into the kitchen. My stomach growls just thinking about real food; I can smell whatever was fixed earlier this evening. Rachel opens the fridge and grabs an already fixed up plate, setting it down on the counter. It looks like some kind of pasta. Something tells me they eat a lot of that… We work together in silence to fix B and me something, too, and then she leads us to the small kitchen table.

Minutes pass without one word said, it's pretty fucking awkward. A foot swings into mine; I glance at Berry, the only possible culprit. She is the only one without shoes on.

"You tryin' to play footsie with me, Yoshi?"

"What? No, of course not! I was merely swinging my legs and happened to hit you, nothing more. I'm sorry if I caused you any discomfort." She rambles, voice slightly high, and then stares down at her plate, tension coming off her in waves.

"I was teasing you, relax, I'm not going to bite your head off." I tell her, sighing as the awkwardness intensifies. It's pretty bad when we can't have normal conversation without her thinking that I'm going to yell or tell her off, and I know it's my own fault for helping to make her this way. Truth is, though... I'm kind of starting to hate it.

"Lets watch a movie; will one of your musicals make you feel better, Rachel?" Brittany, noticing the amounting tension, changes the topic, opting for something Berry is familiar with.

Rachel gives her a half smile. "That would be lovely; I'll even let you pick out which one. We can go back up to my room; my dads are watching TV in the living room. Just put your dishes in the sink, and one of my fathers will wash them."

"Taking advantage of your hurt arm I see…" I tease her again, not being able to stop myself.

"I'll have you know that I certainly do not take advantage of my dads-

"Whoa, now, again, just teasing you. You're gonna have to get used to that with me, k?" I interrupt her, holding my hands up in surrender.

Damn it to hell, since when do I give a shit about how she takes things?

"You are always _mean_ to me Santana, so how can you expect me to differentiate between being mean and teasing me? Or are they even different?" Her words feel like a dagger to the heart, shooting unfamiliar pain straight through it.

She actually has me feeling so damn guilty that it's insane.

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat, and open my mouth to speak. "I-I don't even know how to reply to that, Rachel. I mean, yeah, me teasing you is different, at least the kind that I'm doing tonight. I just, I don't know what to say to you." She really has turned me into a stuttering idiot, and I don't like it one bit. I honestly don't know what to say.

I know that I should apologize for all the shit I have done to her, but how does one begin to make up for that? Saying I'm sorry won't cut it with her, and right now that's all I could do, because I wouldn't know what else do to make it better.

If there even _is_ anything that will _ever_ make it better.

"Please don't fight. We’re supposed to be making Rachel feel better, not worse. Can we go watch that movie now?" B intercepts Rachel's reply, if she even had one.

"Yes, of course, Brittany. I don't feel much like talking anymore anyhow." Rachel tells her, eyes shooting away from me, and then she walks out of the kitchen.

After setting our dishes in the sink, we call our parents to tell them we are staying over at each other's houses, and then head back up and into Berry's room. B shuts the door behind us; Rachel is sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard and staring at the flowers on the nightstand. I have the sudden urge to go over there and say or do something to comfort her. _Fuck._ _What is goin' on with me? Why is she making me feel these things that I never feel, except for when I was with Brittany? It's driving me bat-shit crazy._

"You may sit down, Santana; I'm not going to make you stand the whole time." Uh oh, she has reverted back to using my full name. I don't like it. I walk over to other side of the bed and sit on the edge. B is over at the entertainment center, looking through movies.

She turns around to face us, smiling and holding out the movie she found.

And of course, she picked out the little mermaid, she loves that movie. "That is certainly a good one, go ahead and put it in, I'll open the thing up for you." Berry tells her, smiling.

I can't help but snicker. "That's what she said."

Rachel turns her head toward me, glaring, and the grin I’m wearing wipes off instantly.

"Take your shoes off and scoot over, Santana, you look un-comfy." Britt comes back over here and orders me; I roll my eyes and pout. I don't want to sit next to the gremlin.

_Nope._

But, I do as B said anyway, slippin' my shoes off and slowly scooting over in the middle. She gets in beside me, lifting the cover from the end of the bed and throwing it over all our legs.

Rachel hits play on the movie and we sit in silence as it starts up.

By the time it's over, Brittany has fallen asleep and Rachel is close behind, her eyes drooping. "Yoshi? Why don't you lie down, you shouldn't fall asleep like that." I say, poking her cheek for the hell of it. I jump and snatch my hand back when she turns her head quickly and bites at my finger.

I blush from the unexpected startle, from _her_ no less, and scowl.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You're the one abusing my cheek; I had to protect myself somehow." She answers as she lies down, sounding almost like she is teasing me.

I blink, not used to her this way. Guess I know how she feels when I act differently. Though, what if she's really like this at home and I don't know it? She may be acting normal, it's not like I really know her from outside of school.

" _Funny._ So are we staying over or what?" I retort and ask, already lying down.

My head ends up on her pillow; there aren't any in the middle, which puts me really close, like so close that my face is a shift forward to being in her hair.

Or, really, a shift forward to touching _her_ face.

The smell of her shampoo wafts into my nose, making my eyes close.

"I honestly don't care and my dads won't, either. They probably won't bother us until they are ready to go to bed anyway." She replies sleepily, head turning my way.

"Eh, we're already in the bed, so as long as it's fine with you, we'll stay." I do want to stay. Hell, I don’t even want to move out of this bed.

Out of this _spot_.

But I'm not admitting that part aloud.

"Okay. Do you need a pillow?" Her voice is barely audible now.

I grin.

"No." And yeah, maybe I should get a different one, but if she's fine with sharing, then I'm not going to bother with asking for another one.

She doesn't reply, so I'm assuming she fell asleep finally, and I try to do the same. Before I drift off, the last thing that I'm aware of is my arm connecting around her waist.

I'm too far gone to move it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry in advance about the long Arthur's note, I just wanted to get everything/what I can think of out of the way.
> 
> So, this is set in a world where Rachel and Finn never got back together after the breakup in season one, and where Quinn rejects Sam's promise ring and they part on amicable terms. Brittany and Santana have a past, but are now presently best friends only. There is no Beth or Lauren, and Kurt is still attending McKinley.
> 
> As a warning, there will be original female characters in here, and they are all in their 20's. Other warnings for the story as a whole are: Language, a tad of violence, some drug use, young adult/teen relationship, and eventual sex. I'll add more as needed.
> 
> I also have this story on fanfiction.net, under BlissfulCloud, so if you recognize it, this is me :) I am tweaking and editing the chapters as I post so that the story will be as enjoyable as possible.
> 
> Pairing: Pezberry all the way, though it's a tad gradual.. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I obviously don't own glee, because if I did.. well, we all have our dreams of how we would want the show to go.
> 
> Any and all feedback is welcome, though I'm not one to beg or hold a fic ransom for reviews, so the story shall continue with or without your welcomed thoughts.
> 
> New or a returning reader, I hope you enjoy the ongoing story.


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